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“Air pollution is not going to vanish and it is quite reasonable to believe that other substances released in the atmosphere might become regulated,” wrote environmental enforcement officer Vincent Pretty, in an email sent on Dec. 6, 2012. “Retaining the service of a trained stack test technician and an experienced air emission scientist is probably a very strategic choice for enforcement or for the department to make now given our current and future mandate to enforce clean air regulations.”

The emails were generated in response to questions raised by Environment Canada management about whether it should ask the government to save the team. When asked on Friday, Environment Canada said it couldn’t immediately comment on the correspondence. Environment Minister Peter Kent said through a spokeswoman Sunday that he didn’t “have a role in the enforcement decision-making process,” referring questions back to the department.

At the time of the cuts, Kent’s office estimated the government would save about $600,000 per year by eliminating the seven-member team and turning to other sources for support such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

But Pretty also said that other government agencies, including an industrial waste monitoring division of the city of Montreal, had relied on Environment Canada’s expertise and called him after hearing about the cuts to voice their concerns.

Environment Canada’s enforcement officers would not do smokestack testing by themselves. Instead, they would invite the Environment Canada specialists to oversee testing by consultants or to review technical reports to ensure compliance.