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New report says pollution costs Canadian economy ‘tens of billions’ each year

The report estimates how pollution can impact everything from health to honey bees, lost labour to property values.

Thestar.com
June 1, 2017
By Alex Ballingall

Pollution costs Canadians tens of billions of dollars every year, according to a new report that is billed as the first comprehensive review of the “startling” economic toll of everything from city smog to road salt runoff.

Published Thursday by the not-for-profit International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the report says that poor air quality alone cost the economy $36 billion in 2015. While a lack of data for some pollutants barred them from giving an overall estimate, the report’s authors contend that it’s “very likely” they would add “tens of billions” to the annual cost - meaning the yearly price could be well over $50 billion.

“We’re talking big bucks here - big, big bucks being sucked out of the economy,” said Robert Smith, a senior associate with the IISD who authored the study with his colleague, Kieran McDougal.

“The public needs to know these costs are what they are,” Smith said.

The report, titled “Cost of Pollution in Canada: Measuring the impacts on families, businesses and governments,” surveys studies that have slapped price tags on various forms of pollution. As Smith explained, the IISD’s methodology was scrutinized and approved by the Conference Board of Canada. Their cost estimates are considered “conservative” given the lack of costing research for possibly significant pollutants, he said.

Scott Vaughan, the IISD president and CEO, said the report should be a signal to government that the cost of pollution is a big issue. He added that Ottawa is in the midst of reviewing Canada’s Environmental Protection Act, suggesting that some changes may be needed to address the high cost of pollution.

“This is a significant economic cost across the country,” he said. “That really hits home.”

In the report, Smith and McDougal defined pollution as anything released into the environment by human activity. This includes car exhaust, sewage, crude oil spill off, greenhouse gas emissions, fertilizers, waste heat, noise, light and chemicals like pesticides, plastic additives and flame retardants.

They argue that pollution is taking a toll on human health and the environment, as well as farming output and the economy at large. It is leading to higher health-care costs and more expensive raw materials, food and public services, the report says.

The report highlights health-related costs that stem from how air particulates and other pollution can make people sick and cause deadly disease. Because of prior research on air pollution, Smith said they were able to pin a figure into the health cost category: the report says pollution added $39 billion in 2015.

Pollution is also adding to the bills from treating dirty water, lost labour output from people getting sick, honeybee deaths and reduced agricultural output, the report says. Governments must also pay to clean up oil spills and other contamination.

Another example of pollution costs relates to lost wealth: pollution causes the depreciation of property values on polluted lakes, for instance.

The report calls for more research so that Canadians can have a better idea of how much pollution is actually costing them. Areas where more research needs to be done include on the cost of greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, the health effects of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, and fertilizers and other runoff that promote the growth of vegetation and algae blooms in bodies of freshwater.

“The costs are high. The costs are real. The costs are going to be ongoing, and we don’t know enough about the costs, so we better get on with understanding them better,” Smith said.

THE COST OF POLLUTION