Letter - Observation

Thought I’d pass on this observation. I have a small patio set on my deck. The table is made of glass. During the summer I need to wipe down the glass and dust the seats at least every day, otherwise the build-up is terrible. As it is, the black sooty- like material covers much of the bottom of the paper towel I use to clean up. I went out today to clean it as I hadn’t done it for just over a week (been too busy to go sit out there). Interestingly it was only a bit dirty but not nearly as dirty as it is during the rest of the summer and then I’m cleaning every day rather than after a week. I decided to check the cruise ship schedule – ah yes, 3 ships in port since I last cleaned the table top. Generally speaking it’s 9 or 10 ships in a week. Huge difference that the cruise ships and the associated bus traffic that goes with it makes! And just think, we’re all breathing in that dark sooty material, on top of all the other pollution in our air. The cruise ships do bring lots of visitors, associated business and revenue but the potential health risks concern me. I do hope that the GVHA is looking at further ways of decreasing the obvious pollution that the industry brings to James Bay. Perhaps serious consideration can be given to only accepting tenders for electric buses for next year or something similar that would reduce the emissions in our neighbourhood. Out of curiosity, must the cruise ships arriving at our port conform to the lower sulphur emission fuels or are they given a ‘pass’? Hopefully they must conform.

Regardless, time for me to go outside and take a deep breath of the relatively clean air of the off season.

Keith Kroeker