Woodfibre now plans months of flaring, not weeks. How to comment by Nov 29

Weeks then, months now

When Woodfibre LNG was approved, its 2015 flaring report said start up and commissioning would take about three to four weeks, with flaring bursts of up to three or four days at a time. It said flaring would happen less than 3% of the time overall, never during normal operation apart from small pilot lights, and about once a year for planned maintenance.

The company's plan today, as presented at its October open house and in its new air emissions permit application, is different:

• Commissioning now runs about six to eight months, with flaring several days a week.
• After the first LNG cargo, about two years of stabilizing operations follow, with flaring decreasing.
• About three years after commissioning, flaring drops to less than once a month.

Woodfibre's communications director, Sean Beardow, told The Squamish Chief the company is being "very forthright" that commissioning flaring will last longer and happen more often. Tracey Saxby of My Sea to Sky said the project was approved on what she called a false premise.

What you would see and hear

These are the company's own modelled numbers:

• Flame: up to 60 metres above a 134 metre flare stack, or up to 90 metres in a rare emergency.
• Light: 5.4 lux at Britannia Beach, 3.4 lux in Squamish and 1.3 lux at Furry Creek during flaring. A typical street light is 10 to 15 lux.
• Noise: up to 6 decibels louder at Britannia Beach and 2.5 decibels in Squamish and Stá7mes.
• Smoke: during unplanned flaring, black smoke is allowed for up to 15 minutes in any two hour window. Longer counts as non compliance.
• Air: Woodfibre says its modelling keeps pollution in nearby communities below B.C.'s Air Quality Objectives, and that communities will be told before flaring happens.

A University of Victoria study published in September 2025 found LNG plants worldwide flare about three times more gas during start up than in normal running, and that start up lasted about two years on average. It named Woodfibre among Canadian projects whose assessments did not model start up flaring (summary).

In October 2025, after that study came out, Jeremy Valeriote, then the BC Green MLA for West Vancouver Sea to Sky, called on the province to stop LNG expansion, including Woodfibre, and to count flaring in emissions reporting and environmental assessments (Squamish Chief). My Sea to Sky asked the province to require full modelling of start up flaring, including for projects already approved.

How to comment by November 29

Woodfibre filed the air emissions permit application with the BC Energy Regulator on October 28 (announcement). It covers the flares, a furnace, a thermal oxidizer, backup diesel generators and fire pumps, and plant vents.

• Who: anyone who thinks they may be affected by the plant's air emissions.
• Deadline: Sunday, November 29.
• Email: info@wlng.ca, with a copy to the BC Energy Regulator at waste.management@bc-er.ca. Woodfibre collects the comments and passes them to the regulator.
• Ideas for what to ask: a side by side of the 2015 and current flaring plans, full emissions totals for commissioning, independent checks of noise and light, and whether the provincial Environmental Assessment Office has looked at the change.

Open houses

Woodfibre is holding four drop in open houses on this permit and a second one for stormwater (details):

• Britannia Beach Community Hall, 101 Church Street: Tuesday, November 17 and Wednesday, December 2, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
• Executive Suites, 40900 Tantalus Road, Squamish: Thursday, November 19 and Thursday, December 3, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The Squamish Chief reported the open house details and flaring figures. More background is on our Woodfibre LNG page.