We’re living in an air pollution trap with no escape, according to one of the top air quality experts in Canada.

The Lower Fraser Valley is one of the most constrained air sheds in the world with so large a population, said Dr. Douw Steyn, Professor of Air Pollution Meteorology, University of B.C.

“It’s a scandalously stupid thing for Metro Vancouver politicians to even consider building incinerators in this air shed,” Steyn said.

The environmental consequences of burning garbage in incinerators is unacceptable in this air shed which is one of the most challenged air sheds in North America, Steyn said.

He is respected for his expertise as professor in the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences at UBC.

Abbotsford Deputy Mayor Patricia Ross said even the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identifies the Fraser Valley as an area that is already “unhealthy for sensitive people due to unacceptable pollution levels of ground level ozone and particulate matter.”

Children and elderly people are most vulnerable to illness during ozone episodes as smog envelopes the valley.

“Metro Vancouver should not be experimenting with incineration in one of the worst possible air sheds in North America,” Ross said.

Doctors note that breathing problems are not uncommon.

Living in this air pollution trap results in serious health implications for Fraser Valley residents who have a higher than average rate of asthma, said Dr. Dave Williams, a respirologist and Chief of Medical Staff at Abbotsford Regional Hospital.

Residents may often feel tired or sick as the pollutants constrict the airways in the lungs and an ominous whitish-brown haze obscures the view of Mount Baker and the surrounding Coast Mountains.

Williams said it would be a major human health concern if Metro Vancouver builds new garbage incinerators in this air shed.

“We’ve been trying to encourage people to drive less and to do less burning already because of the problems in this confined air shed,” Williams said.

Steyn explained why air pollution gets trapped in the Fraser Valley.

Sea breezes from Vancouver and Whatcom County move the air emissions from the city to the eastern Fraser Valley and squeeze the pollutants into this funnel-shaped valley where it hits the wall of mountains and can’t escape, he explained.

As the pollutants travel to the Fraser Valley, smog is created by the chemical reactions in the air.

The scientist explained that the chemical reaction happens slowly in the air as the oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds combine with sunlight during bright summer days to create ground level ozone.

“The air pollutants become trapped both vertically and horizontally in the eastern part of the Fraser Valley during temperature inversions,” Steyn said. “And that’s why the area from Abbotsford to Hope is the most polluted part of this air shed.”

Scientists regularly report that the Fraser Valley is an air shed where “poor” air quality episodes occur and smog causes asthma and other human health problems.

This summer for example, Chilliwack reported two poor air quality episodes when the concentrations of ground level ozone exceeded the Air Quality Index and an air quality advisory was issued, said Ken Reid, an air quality expert with Metro Vancouver.

The vision of Metro Vancouver’s Air Quality Management Plan is to have clean and healthy air for this generation and future generations.

Reid said the goals are to:

n Minimize risk to public health from air pollution.

n Improve visibility.

n Minimize Vancouver’s contribution to global climate change.