B.C. forestry practices under scrutiny in documentary shown in U.K.

A BBC documentary sheds an international spotlight on B.C.'s wood pellet industry.

B.C.’s forestry practices came under international scrutiny after a BBC documentary highlighted wood pellets being burned for power in the U.K.

The long-form investigative documentary focuses on alleged environmental problems with the wood pellet industry in B.C.’s Interior.

The practices examined in the documentary were said to breach Canadian environmental regulations 189 times.

“As it turns out, the environmental and forest policies at play here in British Columbia, Alberta and across Canada, are a huge point of contention in the United Kingdom,” Tegan Hansen said, Stand.earth’s senior forest campaigner.

Stand.earth is an international organization that “challenges” corporations and governments to “treat people and the environment with respect.”

The documentary was not broadcast in Canada. Hansen said the reason B.C.’s wood pellet industry is a focus in the United Kingdom is the Drax Power Station in England.

It runs off of wood pellets, most of which are sourced from B.C.

Hansen said the Brits uncovered dozens of emissions violations at Drax’s plants in the interior.