Skip to content

Lacombe County begins steps to cut emissions

The County announced that they have begun the process of creating the mandatory response action plan

Lacombe County is set to begin taking steps to reduce air pollution emissions.

In a press release that was put out last Friday, the County announced that they have begun the process of creating the mandatory response action plan that was mandated last week by the Alberta Government for the Red Deer air zone.

The action plan is being created in response to the results of the Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards report issued last Wednesday, which indicated that the Red Deer region had failed to meet national air quality standards.

“Within the management plan there are a number of steps that we are taking,” said Lacombe County Environment Coordinator Blayne West during an interview.

The County released their first Environmental Management Plan in 2014, which outlined a plan to reduce its carbon footprint. They released a second supplemental report last week.

West said the County has begun to put plans into action that focus on reducing energy consumption and the County’s ecological footprint.

These plans include an internal staff idle reduction program in an effort to reduce the emissions made by County employees and vehicles.

The County also has made improvements to their internal lighting and plan on installing solar panels on two remote shops in the next couple of years.

“We’re generating our energy in power plants so we’re reducing our energy consumption,” West said, adding that cutting energy consumption will lead to a reduction in the amount of emissions those power plants reduce.

She also said Lacombe County is working with the City of Red Deer, Red Deer County, Alberta Environment and Parks, Alberta Health Services and various industry members to create a response action plan to further improve the air quality in the area.

“The response action plan will be coming out in the next couple of weeks,” she said.

zcormier@lacombeexpress.com