The Wilderness Committee in Manitoba was applauding the news about the Tembec plant. The group says Manitobans would breathe a lot easier if it shut down..

The Committee's campaign director Eric Reder says it's been one of the largest sources of pollution in Manitoba over the last 80 years, dumping 4.68 million tones of pollutants into the atmosphere each year.

He says Pollution Watch ranks the coal-powered operation as the third worst polluter in Manitoba, and it has been emitting high levels of carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, phosphorous and other toxins since its opening.