LNG industry having adverse impacts on ER closures, health and healthcare access in B.C.
Unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-waututh) Nations (Vancouver) | August 13, 2024 — The rapidly expanding liquefied fossil gas industry (LNG) in B.C. is exacerbating the province’s crisis of access to healthcare and increasing healthcare system costs, including ER closures, healthcare worker shortages and worsening health outcomes, warn the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment (CANE).
The organizations are issuing an open letter signed by over 300 health professionals, and launching an advertising campaign deployed outside major hospitals in Vancouver to highlight new findings about how the LNG industry is pushing the BC healthcare system towards collapse.
Impacts on healthcare delivery are especially acute in northeastern B.C., where frequent ER closures plague local communities. After speaking with several current and former Peace Region doctors, CAPE has learned that at least seven physicians, totalling nearly half of the 15 to 20 family physicians required to staff the emergency department and provide primary care, have closed their practices and left Dawson Creek in recent years, citing their knowledge and fears about the health and community impacts of the LNG and fracking industry.
One of the urgent actions CAPE and CANE are calling for is a comprehensive and independent health impact assessment to evaluate the health effects of LNG and fracking activities in B.C., similar to the $12-million Ottawa-funded community-led study to determine whether the Alberta Oil Sands are the cause of skyrocketing rates of rare cancers, autoimmune diseases and skin problems in three Indigenous communities in Northern Alberta that are in proximity of oil and gas operations.
The current healthcare implications of the LNG industry include:
Across the province:
- Acceleration of climate change by the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters operating in B.C., closely tied to increased healthcare costs;
- Indoor and outdoor air pollution from expanding fossil gas use in homes across the province, increasing healthcare costs of respiratory disease.
In proximity to LNG and fracking operations:
- Healthcare worker shortages in northeast B.C., including hospital emergency department diversions
- Direct local health costs and adverse community health impacts, including higher risks of disease and mortality in fracking communities.
- Social costs, including worsening housing affordability, family and community disruption and increases in sexually transmitted infection rates and substance use in northeastern B.C. due to workcamp culture;
“Patients across B.C. are experiencing major challenges in accessing healthcare. By increasing extraction and use of polluting natural gas that worsens the health impacts of climate change, and generates significant medical staffing, social and health costs in nearby communities, the fossil gas industry is accelerating our healthcare crisis. We are calling on current and future B.C. governments to take immediate measures to protect our patients and the healthcare system from the harmful impacts of the LNG industry,” says Dr. Melissa Lem, a Vancouver family physician and president of CAPE.
Healthcare consistently polls among the top three priorities of people in B.C. The burden on the healthcare system is on the verge of an exponential increase as a result of the Province’s choices on fracking and LNG. Its current policies and regulations, which permit ongoing expansion of fracking and fossil gas infrastructure with inadequate monitoring and protections, are laying the foundation for worse community health, as at least six LNG projects are poised to contribute half as many greenhouse gases as the entire province of B.C.’s current emissions, intensifying the health effects of climate change.
“Many of the younger physician colleagues I worked with have moved away from Dawson Creek, and I don’t blame them. I have seen a disproportionately high number of cancers, unexplained symptoms and rare diseases in LNG workers and other community members. And with the local school system focusing on trades, students who want future careers outside of oil and gas have few options. Strong academics are very important to many physicians in our area, and some move away when their children reach middle school. We need better protections and monitoring of the LNG industry, and better job opportunities, to keep our community safe and healthy,” says Dr. Ulrike Meyer, a family physician who has chosen to stay behind to provide care to her patients in northeast B.C.
Fracked gas will be transported through the Coastal GasLink Pipeline to LNG Canada, which is Canada’s first of several proposed LNG export terminals. This facility is due to begin startup flaring within weeks. This will put Kitimat-area residents at risk of unquantified levels of harmful air pollutants – including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter – linked to serious health problems, including childhood asthma, cardiovascular disease, premature death, and lung and other cancers.
Read CAPE and CANE’s open letter and the five immediate actions that more than 300 doctors and nurses are urging the B.C. government to implement.
Additional Quotes
Dr. Deborah Curry, Vancouver family physician, member of the CAPE BC Steering Committee and campaign co-lead:
“If we don’t take immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, every child born today will face a world over 4°C warmer within their lifetime, causing severe heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires, spread of infectious diseases and mass migration. The Province’s unbridled support of LNG is exacerbating these health harms. We call on BC to reverse course and take immediate action to protect people in B.C. from these immense health risks.”
Aggie Black, RN, MPH, CANE Representative, British Columbia:
“Collectively, we need to pay much more attention to how the LNG industry is impacting our health and burdening the healthcare system in B.C. The industry narrative that there are no human health impacts associated with their operations is simply untrue. Science shows fracking is linked to adverse mental and physical health outcomes, including higher rates of pre-term births, heart disease, asthma, and childhood leukemia. As nurses, we are left picking up the pieces while communities suffer these health harms.”
Cameron Fenton, B.C. Paramedic:
“When will the B.C. Government say no to more LNG? LNG is not a climate solution. It is a fossil fuel that is no better than coal for addressing the climate crisis – and it harms human health, increases healthcare system costs and reduces access to care. First responders like me see the health impacts of climate change, but we also feel them. When temperatures rise, we sweat in the street dealing with increased 911 calls. When wildfires burn, we inhale the same smoky air that leaves our patients struggling to breathe. We want our patients and local communities to have a healthier future – and that cannot include fracking or LNG.”
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Media Assets
- Website: LNGandHealthcare.ca
- Open Letter: LNG, Fracking and Healthcare System Costs in British Columbia
- Graphics: Media are invited to use the photos and graphics in this folder
About CAPE
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) is a physician-directed non-profit organization working to secure human health by protecting the planet. Since its founding in 1994, CAPE’s work has achieved substantial policy victories in collaboration with many partners in the environmental and health movements. From coast to coast to coast, the organization operates throughout the country with regional committees active in most provinces and all territories, www.cape.ca
About CANE
The Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment (CANE) is a part of the Canadian Nurses Association’s (CNA) Network of Nursing Specialties. We represent Canadian nurses who are dedicated to the improvement of planetary health, www.cane-aiie.ca
B.C. Media Contact
Allison Murray
604-442-1846
[email protected]
National Media Contact
Reykia Fick
Communications Director, CAPE
647-762-9168
[email protected]
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