This is a story, with some lessons, about setting up a biotech company on Vancouver Island focused on using logging waste to create a carbon product, activated carbon in this case. The story starts in 2015 and ends in 2018 in Port Alberni. The core of the problem were complaints by nearby residents on the air quality from the emissions of the plant. Initially the company blamed a cracked valve in the wet scrubber that was supposed introduce a water mist to remove pollutants from the exhaust gas. An independent consulting group were brought in and a series of recommendations were made in a 146 page report. Ultimately the company couldn’t meet the recommendations to the satisfaction of the Port Alberni Port Authority and on May 31st, 2018 their license to operate was terminated.