8 companies that won't have to meet Ontario's new pollution limits

The provincial government will be bringing in strict new pollution standards this summer, but some of Ontario's biggest polluters won't be required to meet them.

CBC News has obtained the list of all companies that currently have multi-year exemptions from limits on such pollutants as sulphur dioxide and airborne particles.

The information shows the eight companies including Ontario's biggest mining company, its biggest smelterand the large steel plants will be allowed to emit far morepollution than otherwise permitted by the province's tough new air-quality standards, due to take effect July 1.

New provincial limits are being introduced on a range of chemical pollutants, and companies are lining up to seek exemptions.

In some cases, the companies are allowed to emit many times the pollution permitted under theprovincial regulations.

• Ontario approves new air standards for steel mills
• Province gives Glencore 10 years to meet new emission limits

The ministry is proposing toexempt theprovince'sbiggeststeel millsArcelorMittalDofascoinHamilton,U.S. Steel in Hamilton andNanticoke, andEssarAlgomainSault Ste.Mariefrom the new limits coming on emissions of benzene andbenzo-alpha-pyrenebenzene. The proposals would allowmills to exceed some of the limits by as much as 250 times.

"Some industries will not be able to meet the standard right away because of technologicallimitations,"Environment and Climate Change MinisterGlen Murray said in a statement Wednesday.

He said companies can apply for exemptions called "site-specific standards"for as long as 10 years.

"Site-specific standards still require companies to make improvements and investments in the best available technology and practices to reduce emissions," Murray said.

The most recent exemption was granted toGlencore'sSudbury smelter, allowing it to exceednickel emission limitsuntil June of 2026.

Mining giant Vale also has a similar 10-year exemption, valid until 2021.That permit allows it to emit 25 times more nickel thanthe new limit of 0.04 micrograms per cubic metre.

The company says its actual emissions are on track to be 0.16micrograms per cubic metre when it finishes a $1-billion upgrade in 2018. But even that would leave its nickel pollutionlevelsfour times higher than the provincial standard.

Concern over 10-year exemptions

The ministry is also proposing to give a 10-year exemption to new limits onhexavalent chromiumforthe Owens Corning glass plant inGuelph.

Environmental groups have raised concern about 10-year pollutionexemptions, which had previously been limited to five years.

The longer exemptions"would just allow companies quite a long period of time to effectively operatewithoutmaking an effort to meet the more stringent standards," saidRamaniNadarajah, counsel with the Canadian Environmental Law Association.

"Itremoves theincentive for them to make improvements," Nadarajah said in a phone interview Wednesday.

The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario has also urged the government not to issuelong exemptions, warning that it could be "watering down" air-quality rules in response to industrypressure.

The exemptions are not blanket. They includeprovisions requiring companies to reduce their emissions graduallyover the term of the permit. For instance, Glencore must reduce its nickel emissions by 60 per cent over the next six years.

Technology 'simply doesn't exist'

Last March, the province grantedexemptionsto thebig steel mills to the limit on "suspended particulate matter," airborne particles such as smoke, dust and ash,until 2020.

The provincial limit is 120micrograms per cubic metre. The exemption for U.S. Steel in Hamilton allowsit to emit more than two-and-a-half times that amount (313micrograms per cubic metre).

The limit in the province'slegislation is setso low that it's impossible for the companytomeet it, said Trevor Harris, U.S. Steel Canada'sdirector of government and public affairs."The emissions reduction technology simplydoesn't exist at this time," Harris said in a phone interview.

He said the company has already reduced some of itsemissions to below the limits it will berequired to meet by the end of the five-year permit.

Windsor's ADM Agri-Industriesand Nanticoke's Harsco Metals also currently have five-year exemptions for suspended particulate matter.