One hundred B.C. Interior doctors have joined the fight against a plan to turn old railway ties into so-called clean energy at a plant in Kamloops.

The Aboriginal Cogeneration Corporation (ACC) says the proposed plant would first chop the creosote-soaked railway ties into small pieces and then use a combination of heat and steam — a process called gasification — to extract a synthetic gas.

That gas, which is similar to propane or natural gas, would then be burned in two one-megawatt generators to produce electricity, which the company would then sell to BC Hydro.

'The large, large majority said we don't want this thing. It's a bad thing, and it shouldn't be here.'—Dr. Steve Rollheiser

Both Interior Health and the Ministry of Environment have given the project the green light, but residents, environmental activists and politicians from all three levels of government have spoken out against the plan.

Dr. Steve Rollheiser, speaking for the group of physicians, said the gasification plant would be a bad fit for Kamloops.

"Not one of the physicians polled spoke in favour of this thing. Some people were equivocal. The large, large majority said we don't want this thing. It's a bad thing, and it shouldn't be here," said Rollheiser.

"Kamloops is basically a couple of valley bottoms and hillside communities and the air shed or the environment makes us prone to inversions, particularly in the winter. Our concern is that if this project goes ahead and it does end up releasing a significant amount of air pollution, that's going to challenge an already somewhat jeopardized air shed," he said.

Minimal emissions, says minister

B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner said he understands the concerns, but said emissions from the gasification plant will be minimal.

"The emissions profile from that plant will be very small, roughly equivalent to a single wood-burning stove. So when you think about what a single wood-burning stove produces in the entire community, that's what we're talking about for this particular project," he told CBC News.

"We listen to what people have to say, but we also have to make decisions based on science. That's the role of the ministry of environment and I think that's what most people viewing this thing from an impartial view would want the ministry of environment to do," said Penner.

But Rollheiser counters that the project was only tested in North Dakota, on a much smaller scale.

"They've taken a scale model of this thing, shown that it performs according to their expectations as far as environmental safety is concerned, but there's no evidence of a fully scaled up, industrial-sized project of this type, particularly in an enclosed air shed area like the Kamloops one," he said.

In April, the B.C. government approved the project for up to $1.5 million in funding.

Kim Sigurdson, the president of ACC, acknowledged the company hasn't done a good job of communicating with the public but said he hopes some of the fears people have will be alleviated when company officials appear at a Kamloops Chamber of Commerce public forum on March 11.