SEPTEMBER 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


7 Ag council defends cannabis sector on odour


Metro Vancouver regulation could have unintended consequences for all farms control over them. “Metro Vancouver has the


by PETER MITHAM


ABBOTSFORD—Cannabis should be treated just like any other agricultural crop, according to the BC Agriculture Council, which is opposing a bid by Metro Vancouver to regulate odours from pot producers and processors. Metro Vancouver launched a public consultation in June on a proposed cannabis emissions regulation. The consultation wraps up September 30. “Cannabis production has the potential to cause negative air quality impacts if emissions are not adequately controlled,” a discussion paper regarding the regulation states. The regulation targets


volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which the paper claims “may contribute to the formation of harmful ground- level ozone and fine particulate matter through reactions with other substances and sunlight in the lower atmosphere.” To improve air quality,


sectors such as construction have shifted to products with lower VOC emissions. Metro Vancouver would like to reduce those of the cannabis sector, too.


The discussion paper cites


research that says cannabis produces 57 grams of VOCs per kilogram of plant tissue each year, versus 1.5 grams per kilogram of tomatoes. But when greenhouses shift from vegetable production to cannabis, they often aren’t retrofitted to mitigate emissions.


COVER CROPS? “A number of greenhouses


formerly used for vegetable production have been retrofitted for cannabis production, yet were not designed or constructed to collect and treat air contaminants,” the Metro Vancouver discussion paper says.


This has led to Metro


Vancouver governments fielding numerous complaints regarding cannabis farm odours, and the idea for a regulation governing cannabis operations. The proposed regulation


would see cannabis operations pay a registration fee of $2,000 to cover administrative costs related to the registration of production facilities and a government review of odour management plans and inspection. Registered facilities would pay an annual fee of $250 plus an emissions fee based on estimated production.


Right-to-farm But the BC Agriculture


Council points out that the province’s right-to-farm legislation doesn’t give municipalities the right to regulate normal farm practices. It believes odours are being classified as noxious emissions in order to claim


legitimate authority to regulate air emissions (like VOCs), but it does not have the authority to regulate odour on agricultural lands,” it explains in briefing documents. “BCAC has determined that this issue could establish a precedent for the entire agriculture industry.” “The unintended consequences are what really scares us,” says Reg Ens, the council’s executive director. “We don’t know if this is going set a precedent for all odour, whether that’s Metro Vancouver, or some neighbour who just doesn’t like the smell of a chicken barn.” BCAC believes cannabis


production should be regulated in the same way as every other crop. This means referring concerns about odour to the BC Farm Industry Review Board, as complainants have done in the past with respect to issues


related to manure. “Odour is [a] right to farm


[issue],” Ens says. “What is a normal farm practice on a cannabis farm? That probably needs some work, and we have no problem that there needs to be some standards.” Ens compares the situation to setbacks for hog farms, although research in the US suggests that the most pungent of hog farms has a VOC output of about 29 grams per pound, or about half what Metro Vancouver attributes to cannabis. When media questioned


BC agriculture minister Lana Popham on the matter last year, she said concerns regarding cannabis were part of a long history of urban unease with farm smells. “There’s always going to be


a conflict between agriculture and development living side by side. I think over the past seven years or so there’s been more of an understanding as consumers are embracing our local food movement, and where our food comes from,”


she said. “As the cannabis industry grows, we are going to have to deal with that.” However, she has recused


herself from the cannabis file because her partner, physician Rob Sealey, issues prescriptions for medicinal cannabis. (Her recusal covers recreational cannabis as well.) BCAC believes her ministry needs to send a clear message to Metro Vancouver that farmers have a right to farm, and municipalities can’t do an end-run around provincial authority to take away that right. “Things smell; that’s part of our society,” says Ens. Moreover, if the concern really is pollution, he


questions whether cannabis is the right culprit to target. “Is cannabis really that big a pollutant in the world?” he asks. “Are there other man- made pollutions that we should be monitoring, more so than plants?” Metro Vancouver did not


respond to a request for comment.


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