INCREASE GHG EMISSIONS proposed by School District #43
Posted on | February 19, 2009 |
INCREASE GHG EMISSIONS proposed by School District #43
as promised, please find the environmental information I promised to post today.
I am writing today in regard to the Ministry of Environment’s work to support the provincial government’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gases by at least 33% below current levels by 2020 and how the proposed construction of Heritage Woods Middle School in Anmore, BC is a direct violation of this green initiative.
Currently, School District #43 is proposing that a middle school be built on the outskirts of Anmore to accommodate approximately 500 students, with an additional 300 Middle School students that would start High School early to support the closing of Port Moody Middle. This will bring a total 800 students plus teachers from Port Moody Middle up the hill to Heritage Mountain. Though I am pro-education, I am also a strong advocate of environmental initiatives and there is no doubt that this school violates this greenhouse gas reduction policy. To this day, no environmental, traffic, or health impact analysis has been performed on this proposal.
The biggest issue to me is not the construction of the school, which is promised to be “green,” even though we all know that we can’t be guaranteed of this. The issue that hasn’t been taken into consideration is the additional carbon output and greenhouse gas emissions that will be spewed by transportation bringing teachers and students to and from this out of the way school.
The proposed school is not in a convenient area. According to StatCan, the school is not even remotely close to 75% of the population that it is intended to service. According to a 2006 census, there are 145 middle school and older elementary school aged children who reside in Anmore. If this calculation is correct, only about 145 students (if that) will be a short distance from this school. The other students who will attend this school, 75% will be imported into the area on a daily basis to attend classes and activities via a variety of means, be it personal transportation by parents or via bus service offered by the school district. Due to the proposed location and the fact that most of the students who will be grouped in this proposed school’s catchment are not geographically close to the location, the construction of this school does not fit in line with the Ministry of Environment’s policy to reduce our carbon footprint and reduce greenhouse gasses by 33%. In fact, all research indicates that this proposed school will raise greenhouse gas emissions as well as fuel costs for the families of students significantly
In 1999 a study was done showing less than 10% of children in general walk or bike to school. (according to the Centers for Disease Control).
Even if every child in Anmore walked to school, which we all know is not going to happen due to the rural nature of the village and lack of sidewalks, 300-400 or perhaps even more children will have to be driven to the premises.
The additional students have been slated to come from Moody Middle School. In a recent Article in the local Tri-Cities Daily, Assistant Superintendent Dan Derpak stated that about 450 students take the bus down from Heritage Mountain each day. This figure is blatantly inflated. There are only 145 Middle School aged children in Anmore, and the middle school aged children from the Westwood Plateau area of Coquitlam attend Summit Middle School. This would mean that most of the students are from the Port Moody area and will be traveling much further distances and up hill to attend school.
Being that an environmental and traffic impact analysis has not been completed, I have calculated the carbon output for this project myself and have great concerns. I’ve calculated the additional carbon outputs based on the central starting location of Guildford and Ioco in Port Moody. This main route is basically in the middle of Port Moody so it seemed like a good starting point. The students who currently attend Moody Middle travel 1.4 Kilometres from this point to get to school. If the proposed new school site is chosen, the same students would have to travel 3.2 kilometres in order to get to school. This is an increase of 1.8 Kilometres.
School District #43 has no information regarding their bussing policies and how many students travel on each bus and from what areas available to the public. If 80% of the students are driven in by parents, which seems highly likely, and is a conservative estimate in my experience (I am a parent who has seen how much traffic there is while dropping off on any given day), each car will emit 325 kg of CO2E per year. Every three vehicles will emit 1 ton of CO2E. In a recent article in the Tri Cities daily, Dan Derpak states that 80% of the students who attend Moody Middle do so by bus. If 20% of the students are Anmore residents, and the other 80% are not, they will be bussed in from Port Moody. Using the average starting point mentioned above, this results in an increased travel distance of 1.8 kilometers. School buses burn 30 liters of diesel fuel per 100 km traveled. If each bus makes two daily trips to the proposed new school site; that is an overall travel increase of 7.2 kilometers (to the school and back twice). Over the course of one school year, this is 1396.8 additional kilometers traveled (on roads that are not equipped for busses and will have to be made do accommodate them). In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, this is an additional approximation of 325 kg per car or 1 ton of CO2E for every three cars. In terms of busses, the emissions jump to 1.1 tons of additional CO2e per diesel bus.
The estimate of children who utilize bus services seems to be overstated by School District #43 in that a recent study by Transport Canada indicates weekday travel by car for 11-15 year olds has increased to 83%. This seems much more realistic considering local schools and residents have been complaining about traffic problems around schools, and the numbers add up perfectly considering about 100 students from Anmore are expected to walk, and the others will be transported. According to my calculation based just on cars would result in a 286 ton increase in GHG emissions.
I am no expert at these calculations, and I realize this amount of emissions may not be huge, but these non-green policies must receive attention. To this day the public has not seen an environmental impact analysis or traffic analysis. Even based on these numbers it seems easy to see the environmental impacts of building a school that is not centrally located and that School District #43 is ignoring the environmental policies instituted by the government. I haven’t even taken into account in this letter that the site is on a hill, idle time, cost to families for transport ($139 per family), or traffic problems that will also have environmental impacts.
This addition of emissions goes directly against the green policies of Environment Canada. The best policy change that could be made here is attempting to place this school in a more convenient, centralized, location in Port Moody. To this day, no alternative has been offered and School District #43 has put in zoning permits without doing any environmental analysis. I am an advocate for education, I would love for my children to have the best educational opportunities possible. There has got to be a happy medium, no impact analysis and lack of transparency within our community by the school district does nothing but teach our children that governments can not be relied upon to make informed well thought-out decisions. I have attempted to contact the Assistant Superintendent Dan Derpak, as well as the School Board regarding our concerns.
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Our Government’s Air Quality Commitments
• “To lead the world in sustainable environmental management, with the
best air and water quality, and the best fisheries management, bar
none” (Great Goal # 4)
• Implementation of government’s Air Action Initiatives will achieve noticeable and measurable improvements to air quality between now and 2009
BC’s Air Action Initiatives - BC Clean Air Forum 2008 March 5, 2008 – Penticton
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GHG Emission Calculations for building Proposed Heritage Woods Middle School and closing Port Moody Middle.
Total additional GHG Emissions if by Car from Ioco and Guildford - 1 Tonnes / 3 cars
Total additional GHG Emissions if by bus from Ioco and Guildford – 1 Tonnes /bus
Stats used for this calculation:
1 litre of gasoline = 2.34 kg of CO2E
1 litre of diesel = 2.69 kg of CO2E
Distance from Ioco & Guildford to Proposed School Site: 3.12 km
Distance from Ioco & Guildford to Current Moody Middle 1.4 km
Difference between distances: 1.8 km traveled 4 times a day =7.2 additional km’s.
194 Days in a school year as stated by the Ministry of Education.
Based on 2 round trips a day: Home to school. School to home.
7.2 x 194 = 1396.8 extra km’s per car.
1396.8 km x 10 liters/100 km = 139.68 additional liters of fuel
139 x 2.34 kg of CO2E = 325 kg per car.
- Every three cars dropping their child off at school emit an additional 1 ton of GHG
into the air just by driving to Anmore as opposed to Moody Middle or a more central
location.
1396.8 km x 30 litres/100 km = 419.04 additional liters of diesel
419.04 x 2.69 = 1.1 tons per diesel bus
- Every bus driving to this school will emit an additional 1 ton of GHG into the air just
by driving to Anmore as opposed to Moody Middle or a more central location.
- There will be an additional approximated fuel cost of $139 per family.
- Most of the GHG emissions will come from cars as opposed to busses, according to parents of children who currently attend Moody Middle School, there are approximately six school busses that service the school.
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For more information regarding the proposed building of Heritage Middle School please contact:
Village of Anmore - Anmore Mayor Hal Weinberg, Councilor John McEwen, Councilor Kerri Palmer Isaak, Councilor Mario Piamonte, Anmore Councilor Chris Sedergreen. 2697 Sunnyside Road, Anmore, BC, V3H 5G9
School District 43 – SD43 - Tom Grant Superintendant of Schools, Dan Derpak, Assistant Superintendant of Schools, Holly Butterfield School Trustee. 550 Poirier Street, Coquitlam, B.C. V3J 6A7
Comments
13 Responses to “INCREASE GHG EMISSIONS proposed by School District #43”
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February 20th, 2009 @ 12:36 am
I’m so glad you’re pro-education. It’s such a relief in this day and age…
Q. Did you know that approximately 60% of students at Moody Middle are from the Heritage Mountain area?
As I understood it, the middle school at the top of the mountain was to serve the needs of the residents up there in an ever-increasing population. Moody Middle would continue to serve (albeit on a smaller scale) those students from the centre of the town.
Q. How close to the proposed school would students from Anmore be (those living nearer to the elementary school rather than those living nearer Port Moody) compared to those students who live in the Heritage Woods area?
["In a recent Article in the local Tri-Cities Daily, Assistant Superintendent Dan Derpak stated that about 450 students take the bus down from Heritage Mountain each day. This figure is blatantly inflated. There are only 145 Middle School aged children in Anmore, and the middle school aged children from the Westwood Plateau area of Coquitlam attend Summit Middle School"] :
You do realize that there are other houses between Anmore and Westwood Plateau and Anmore and Newport Village?????
I wonder if you factored into your calculations that many of the parents dropping their kids at the high school would also drop their siblings at the nearby middle school, thereby eliminating a fair amount of traffic in Port Moody central?
February 20th, 2009 @ 1:07 pm
wow. This is just getting plain silly.
I am sorry, but really, if you are going to guess at carbon emmissions, then at least consider the fact that the school district IS addressing issues of the environment and sustainability by choosing to have 2 small 500 student community schools (the proposed middle school and the seismically upgraded Moody Middle) that would service their immediate neighbourhoods RATHER than having everyone from upper Port Moody, Anmore, Belcarra and Pleasantside bussed to St Johns Street to attend one large 800 student school. This reduces the problem of driving and bussing by a huge amount. The idea is children can attend school in their area, so more biking, walking and shorter driving distances.
This is actually very forward thinking of the School District and from an environmental perspective shows THEY GET IT. It shows they are embracing the triple bottom line approach to economics and considering community, the environment and finances when making decisions rather than the old way of thinking which is just to look at the immediate dollar value of a project.
This is how you build a sustainable community.
February 20th, 2009 @ 4:58 pm
The biggest issue to me is not the construction of the school, which is promised to be “ green ,” even though we all know that we can’t be guaranteed of this. The issue that hasn’t been taken into consideration is the additional carbon.
February 21st, 2009 @ 3:18 am
The issue that hasn’t been taken into consideration is the additional carbon output and greenhouse gas emissions that will be spewed by transportation bringing teachers and students to and from this out of the way school.
February 25th, 2009 @ 9:08 am
[...] see also the information Posted on | February 19, 2009 | INCREASE GHG EMISSIONS proposed by School District #43 [...]
February 25th, 2009 @ 9:13 pm
re:”The proposed school is not in a convenient area. According to StatCan, the school is not even remotely close to 75% of the population that it is intended to service. According to a 2006 census, there are 145 middle school and older elementary school aged children who reside in Anmore. If this calculation is correct, only about 145 students (if that) will be a short distance from this school.” -
Thank you for taking the time to post this blog to generate some debate; however, on the point above, I believe you are wrong. Yes, there may be 175 residents from anmore who are close to the school but what about the much larger number of students from Port Moody who would benefit from this school. Residents throughout Heritage Mountain and Heritage Woods will be dramatically closer to the new middle school than the alternative. From a GHG perspective, the drive from upper Heritage Woods is waay shorter than to Moody…and many many of the students will be walking distance in lower Heritage Woods and upper Heritage Mountain. Suggest you take a gander via google earth and compare where the current middle school is (all of which is transported by bus) to the proposed site in proxmity to large neighbourhoods in port moody.
So certainly, if the catchment for this school was only Anmore, you may have a point, but there are huge neighbourhoods in proximity from Port Moody which are far closer to the new site than where t
hey currently trek them to.
I certainly understand opposition based upon imapacts to neighbourhoods…that is fair ball; but the GHG argument is simply a red herring which only discredits your overall argument. I suggest you stick to your strengths - clearly traffic mitigation and planning need to be done to minimize impacts to your neighbourhoodl but the GHG argument is not credible.
February 26th, 2009 @ 8:08 am
[...] I recieved the following letter of support regarding the information Posted on | February 19, 2009 | INCREASE GHG EMISSIONS proposed by School District #43 [...]
February 28th, 2009 @ 5:54 pm
Thanks for you comment. Actually we didn’t guess at (GHG) Green House Gasses.
We pulled the information regarding how many busses SD43 currently has, the specification on the power plant they use, and then completed calculations based on industry standards to calculate GHG. The proximity numbers came from the most recent and available Census data. I don’t want to bore you with the details, but a lot of research went into this green house gas GHG information from someone with intimate and daily knowledge in this space.
Quick question.
How many grade four students are currently enrolled in Anmore Elementary School? I believe the total number of students are enrolled in Anmore Elementary School is 175.
So, how many of the 175 are in grade 4? This is likely the number of Anmore students that will use the proposed Heritage Woods Middle School in Anmore.
Did the City of Port Moody overbuild with single family homes and town homes in Heritage Mountain?
How many “new Schools” did Port Moody plan to be built to support their development?
How strong is the relationship with Anmore and Port Moody currently? Trying going the recreation centre with a friend from Coquitlam, or Prince George while they pay $5.00 you “Anmore” pay $12.00. Sounds like a win- win situation
Did the City of Coquitlam overbuild with single family homes and town homes in Westwood Plateau? The City of Coquitlam planned for the building and open of Scott Creek Middle School and Summit Middle School.
Can we trust Dan Derpak assurances of School District 43 that Port Moody Middle will be re-built?
Will the funding stay?
Will the City of Port Moody approve the rebuilding of Port Moody Middle? What if there is a change in Government in May?
My point to this is simple. The request to rezone the Anmore property comes along with a promise to eventually re-build Port Moody Middle and move hundreds of student back down the hill.
Is this the same School Board that promised the parents on Baker drive that busses would be provided to take their children to School then cancelled the busses.
Or
The same SD43 threatened to cancel School busses for children of Port Moody Middle and then only after the parents boycotted the busses one day and drove their children and grid locked the area before the district decided to keep the busses?
Or
During the first meeting at the Village hall meeting said the Hummingbird entrance would be the “secondary entrance” and a week later at the public meeting organized by the district said Hummingbird would be the “main entrance”?
hummm
February 28th, 2009 @ 8:09 pm
I suspect the above calculations of CO2 and GHG emissions don’t tell the whole story. It’s actually quite a bit worse, the reason being that these calculations are based on vehicles traveling at posted speed limits.
However, as has been pointed out, the access roads to the proposed Heritage school are poorly-suited for heavy school traffic. This means that cars and buses will be caught in gridlock and traffic will crawl along, taking more time - and consuming more fuel.
The negative environmental impact is another reason for pause before committing to this project.
March 1st, 2009 @ 10:57 am
[...] I recieved the following letter of support regarding the information Posted on | February 19, 2009 | INCREASE GHG EMISSIONS proposed by School District #43 [...]
March 2nd, 2009 @ 4:34 pm
[...] increase ghg emissions proposed by School District 43 [...]
June 2nd, 2009 @ 2:05 am
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June 13th, 2009 @ 8:43 am
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