A resolution passed by a Fraser Valley Regional District committee urges the provincial government to create a fund to help offset costs of radon mitigation in B.C. homes.
Radon gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking, and the preamble of the FVRD resolution notes that some residents are “exposed to unsafe levels of radon” in their homes every day.
Chilliwack resident Jill Hall spoke to the FVRD committee before the Feb. 8 vote, along with her brother and local builder Tony Gore. They’ve been trying to urge proactive behaviour to protect people from the odourless, colourless gas.
“Radon is a public health crisis,” Hall said, and it’s something that “no one” is addressing.
Hall who is a Realtor in Chilliwack started advocating on the radon awareness issue after being diagnosed for radon-related lung cancer in 2021.
The main stumbling block, she said, is the erroneous perception that radon levels are “not a problem” in the rapidly growing community of Chilliwack.
Radioactive radon seeps into homes, both older homes and newly constructed ones, through cracks in foundations and basements, which can be removed with mitigation systems using pressurized piping to vent it to the exterior.
“For many radon is an easy thing to ignore. Life goes on – until it doesn’t.”
So the resolution passed in the Chilliwack FVRD boardroom has the potential, if the province goes ahead with funding for B.C. homeowners, “it could save lives,” Hall stressed.
The unanimous resolution passed on Feb. 8 was from FVRD’s regional and corporate services committee and heads to the Lower Mainland Local Government Association for approval in May.
As FVRD chair Jason Lum summed it up: “It puts the onus squarely on the province to provide a vehicle to help with radon mitigation costs.”
The ultimate goal is for the resolution to hit the conference floor of the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) to ratchet up the pressure on the province.
The FVRD has been mobilizing to help residents with testing, having ordered an initial run of radon test kits, and then obtained even more in November 2023 for testing over the 2023-24 winter.
“Initially, the goal was to obtain 300 test kits for the region but staff was able to leverage funding and partnerships to make available over 500 test kits to members of the community,” the FVRD staff report said.
These kits went out across the region, with results expected by early summer.
“As awareness about radon increases, through home testing and informational campaigns, demand for solutions continues to grow. Residents that have elevated home radon levels are encouraged to install a radon mitigation system,” the staff report stated.
Costs can be a barrier as the average installation ranges from $3,300 up to $9,000 for radon mitigation in B.C.
“While some Provinces offer rebates or partial funding for radon mitigation, British Columbia currently does not,” the FVRD staff report to council said.
Chair Lum added: “The good thing about this resolution is it actually asking for solutions, such as establishing a funding program.”
He hinted that province could look to its own grant program, used to offset costs for energy efficiency upgrades as a potential funding model.
“It’s ultimately up to the province to decide how best to undertake a program like this,” Lum said, but given the unanimity of the committee on this, “the next step is bringing it to a larger audience.”
Hall and Gore, have been helping owners test more than 200 homes around Chilliwack, and 30 per cent of those residences had radon measurements of concern. They are beseeching people to test their homes.
“This is not a Chilliwack issue. It’s a worldwide issue,” Hall told the FVRD committee.
She has contacted health agencies and governments of all levels, pushing them to advocate for more testing, awareness, and changes to the building code to add roughed-in radon mitigation at the time of all new construction, after elevated levels were also found in buildings across the region.
The resolution passed at FVRD on Feb. 8:
“Whereas radon exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking amongst Canadians and many British Columbians are exposed to unsafe levels of radon within their own homes every day;
“And whereas professionally-installed radon mitigation systems are effective at reducing radon exposure levels in homes but are financially prohibitive for many British Columbians to pursue;
“Therefore be it resolved that the Union of BC Municipalities urge the Province of British Columbia to establish a funding program to help residents with the costs of installing radon mitigation measures in their homes to increase the health and safety of British Columbians from the harmful effects of radon.”
More on radon or buy a test kit.
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