Pollution cloud at Dofasco sparks calls for provincial enforcement action

A pollution cloud from ArcelorMittal Dofasco over the holiday weekend has prompted Coun. Sam Merulla to ask his council colleagues Wednesday to call on the province to be more aggressive in policing emissionsbythe Hamilton company.

He also wants to call a summit for discussing solutions to air quality issues in Hamilton that would involve the premier, ministers and MPPs as well as industry. He'll bring a motion to that effect at Wednesday's city council meeting.

A large burst of particulate pollutionescapedfromDofascoon Sunday,forming abrown plumeover the steelmaker thatdriftedacross some city neighbourhoods.

Aside from such highly visible bursts of pollution, Merullaand local environmentalists are also concerned about ongoing emissionsat the company.

In 2017, most people would recognize that they're not willing to give up their public health in exchange for [jobs].- Coun. Sam Merulla

The move comes amid some mystery over what, if any, penalty, the company will face for failing to meet certain emissions standards in 2017.

The company wasdenied an extension to come into compliance, but environmentalists and community members haven't heard whether the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change is doing anything about it.

Merulla acknowledges that the company provides good jobs in Hamilton that are of "utmost importance."

"But in 2017, most people would recognize that they're not willing to give up their public health in exchange for that," he said.

He said the issues with air quality and pollution "need to come to a head," and just having local officials speakupisn't enough to make that happen.

"The MOE (Ministry of Environment) and Queen's Park don't have to listen to Sam Merulla," he said. "Nor have they in 20 years."

Merulla said he's been disappointed with the way the ministry has policed the agreement it made with Dofasco in 2015 over the allowances the company had to meet less stringent emissions requirements as it worked toward improvements.

'You're clearly over it'

In July, the company told community members on a public accountability committee that it had asked the province for an extension to come into compliance on two specific emissions measures on leaks from one of its coke ovens.

The company had already received one extension to do some repairs and was looking to extend that to the end of the year.

Dofascodidn't receive the extension to have more time to come into compliance. But the community members haven't heard anything about whether the company now faces fines or other non-compliance enforcement.

You signed up and you knew the timeline on it, and everybody agreed this is the path we have to go down.- JochenBezner, Crown Point representative, Dofasco's community liaison committee

"This is the line that got drawn and you're clearly over it, and you have been for some time," said Jochen Bezner, a neighbour who represents Crown Point neighbourhood on the committee.

"My main concern is them not meeting that order and there's no repercussions," he said. "You signed up and you knew the timeline on it, and everybody agreed this is the path we have to go down."

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment said the company's first request for an extension was "reasonable" based on a "unique design" to its equipment that needed repairing.

But despite that extension, the ministry expects the company to meet its emissions targets, said Lindsay Davidson.

"The ministry has staff certified to assess coke oven leaks and regularly monitors the company's progress toward meeting its obligations under the site-specific standard order," Davidson said.

'This weird space where they're not really in compliance'

Lynda Lukasik, executive director of Environment Hamilton, said she's skeptical of the ministry's response after the company didn't get the extension it wanted.

"You almost wonder if it's a de facto extension anyway," she said.

But Jim Stirling, general manager of environment at Dofasco, said that the company expects to be within its provincial and site-specific standards limits for 2017.

We are hopeful of achieving and sustaining the 2017 limits.- Jim Stirling, general manager, environment, ArcelorMittal Dofasco

Although thesecond extension wasn't granted, the company said it is making some adjustments to other emissions elsewhere in the plant while it works to bring the final measure into compliance.

Due to that balancing effort, "we are hopeful of achieving and sustaining the 2017 limits," even with the one measure currently not in compliance, Stirling said.

Still, Environment Hamilton has been keeping an extra-close eye onDofasco. Lukasik noticed the coffining emissions on Sunday while out on a bike ride.

"We're in this weird space where they're not really in compliance," she said. "While we're out there watching I see things like coffining emissions."

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change said on Tuesday it takes events like coffiningseriously and will meet with the company about theweekend plume incident this week and will "review its existing action plan to reduce the frequency of coffining events and the amount of iron involved, and to determine what further steps may be required."

'Our air quality has to continue to improve'

Paul Miller is the MPP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, and he said it's not new that business puts pressure on the government on environmental protection.

But there's something that's not negotiable:

"Our air quality has to continue to improve," he said. "Governments have got to get more serious about enforcing."

Miller said he doubts five MPPs can make much of a dent but said he's willing to try to push for more stringent restrictions for the ministry and more inspectors.

"I've been after them for years; this is nothing new for me," he said.

Over the weekend, a spokesperson forDofascosaid the company doesn't want to see emissions like the coffining cloudand that the company does "everything in our power to avoid them and we are committed to improving."

kelly.bennett@cbc.ca