Radon gas danger to residents may cause platform problems for provincial candidates
By Kyra Hoggan
An issue that came before council last night could prove contentious enough to end up a platform issue in the upcoming provincial election, according to councillor Deb McIntosh.
This after a presentation, at council’s regular meeting, by Dana Schmidt, of the Donna Schmidt Memorial Lung Cancer Prevention Society.
The issue centres around radon-prevention measures in building codes for new construction, which fall within provincial jurisdiction, but which Schmidt says aren’t stringent enough to protect radon hot spots like Castlegar. Radon gas is an odourless, colourless, tastless and radioactive gas caused by the natural decay of uranium or thorium in the ground, and is found to be the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking.
“It is (a larger issue for Castlegar residents) to the degree that we have a higher percentage of homes with elevated radon levels,” Schmidt said, adding several surveys have been completed that rank Castlegar as having the second- or third-highest radon levels (depending which study you read) of any community in B.C., with only Clearwater and Barrier competing for similar danger levels.
Schmidt was calling on city officials to consider a bylaw that would force radon mitigation in new home construction, which he said would only cost about $1,000 per unit, as compared to $2,500 and more to retrofit a home with radon mitigation post-construction.
McIntosh pointed out, after Schmidt’s presentation, that this issue has been before city council for years, but the hope had been that new building codes implemented by the province would address they issue (Schmidt earlier indicated that, in terms of radon mitigation, there is no substantive change between the old building codes and the new ones).
“It’s time we made a move,” McIntosh said, recommending that the issue be referred to the city’s Planning and Development Committee. “What happens now is, it’s gone back to committee. Staff will come up with a draft bylaw that has to go to the provincial ministry for approval. If we get that approval, then Bob’s your uncle.”
If the province denies approval, however, McIntosh said she can see this becoming an issue for provincial electoral candidates.
“If the province isn’t going to build it into their building code, then they need to give municipalities jurisdiction to build it into their own codes – it just makes sense,” she said in a later interview, adding the move may upset some new homebuilders in the short term, but seems certain to save lives over the long haul. “With new construction, it’ll just be built into the purchase price, so it’s not an onerous cost burden.
“It may not be the most popular move, but we’ve been unpopular before and we’ve survived it,” she added. “We’ve got evidence up the wazoo supporting this – what are we waiting for?”
The draft bylaw could come before council as early as their next meeting, slated for April 15.
The Donna Schmidt Memorial Lung Cancer Prevention Society, in partnership with the City of Castlegar, donates free longterm radon detectors to homes and businesses in the West Kootenays. For more information, call City Hall at 250-365-7227.
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