A spokesperson at Domtar says the amount of odour going into the air from its Kamloops pulp mill has not increased.

Speaking on NL Newsday, Bonny Skene was asked about the smell of the pulp mill being more noticeable lately, and she says emissions from the mill are currently at less than 15 per cent of its limit.

“The discharge limit for odour is set by the provincial Ministry of Environment, they set those limits to protect human health and the environment. The air permit for the mill was last revised in 2017. That being said, we work to operate and manage the operation so that it generates as little odour as possible,” Skene says.

“There’s been no unusual – we call it – venting… so something else is happening to cause how much more noticeable it is recently.”

Skene says odour complaints from the public are called in more frequently during the summer months, which she says can because of weather patterns and other reasons.

She says Domtar is constantly looking to improve its performance on odour.

“I’m not in a position to share any specific capital plans, simply because we have disclosure rules that prevent us from any kind of capital planning information. But I can tell you that this is an area of focus, not only for the environmental department but for people who work within the operation.”

Skene also says when someone calls the mill to complain about odour, a shift supervisor takes down their concern and then checks the operating conditions of the mill.

She says those complaints are tallied internally, and are reported annually the Ministry of Environment.