HAMILTON, ON – Hamilton residents are urging Ontario to investigate ArcelorMittal Dofasco for allegedly emitting high levels of air pollutants into the nearby community.
Ecojustice and Hamilton-based lawyer Kristian Ferreira submitted the request to investigate on behalf of Jochen Bezner and another Hamilton resident. The request asks Ontario to investigate Dofasco’s Hamilton plant for allegedly emitting dangerous pollutants, including benzene, benzo[a]pyrene and sulphur dioxide and manganese, at levels that exceed science-based regulatory standards designed to protect human health. The request alleges that these emissions violate sections of the Environmental Protection Act and the Air Pollution – Local Air Quality regulation. Under the Environmental Bill of Rights, concerned Ontarians can submit requests to the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks to investigate when environmental laws are violated.
The request alleges that:
- for nearly a decade, Dofasco operated under an exemption that allowed the facility to emit four contaminants, including cancer-causing benzene and benzo[a]pyrene, at concentrations ranging from approximately 3 to 900 times the Ministry’s own science-based, health-protective standards while the company worked to reduce emissions over time by upgrading equipment or changing processes, but that exemption expired more than two years ago,
- after the exemption expired, the company continues to emit these dangerous contaminants at levels significantly higher than the health-based standards allow, and
- those emissions contravene the Environmental Protection Act and Air Pollution – Local Air Quality regulation.
Approximately 82,000 people live in the neighbourhoods immediately surrounding Hamilton’s Dofasco plant. These neighbourhoods experience some of the highest levels of benzene and benzo[a]pyrene in the province.
Jochen Bezner, Hamilton resident, said: “Hamiltonians who live near Dofasco’s Hamilton plant regularly experience the harmful impacts from the steel mill’s excessive emissions. There have been times when I can’t open my windows at home because the foul smell emitted by the plant lingers in the air. We experience poor air quality that makes it difficult to exercise outdoors and routinely see the thick black soot residue that covers our homes, our outdoor spaces and the playgrounds in our neighbourhoods.
“My community should not have the bear the brunt of polluting industry. I’m calling on the province to investigate Dofasco and hold big polluters accountable for violating laws that are in place to protect our communities and the air we breathe.”
Ian Miron, Ecojustice lawyer, said: “Air quality standards exist for a reason. They provide legal limits on the contaminants that industrial facilities can release and in turn, help prevent excessive exposure to emissions that cause adverse health impacts like worsening asthma, cancer and heart disease.
“Ontario has the power to use existing air quality standards to ensure that Dofasco plays by the same rules as everyone else and ratchets up its efforts to reduce emissions. It’s time for the province to take the kid-gloves off and hold Dofasco accountable for putting communities at risk.”
Background
- Ontario has three “compliance pathways” for industrial facilities to meet regulatory requirements for air pollution:
- Facilities can comply with science-based default air quality standards.
- If the facility cannot meet the default standards but certain criteria are met, Ontario can allow for site-specific air quality standards that are set at a higher level following public consultation.
- Ontario can establish industry-wide standards that don’t set a numeric limit but impose technology or operational requirements that facilities must follow.
- Between May 2016 and June 2023 ArcelorMittal Dofasco operated under site-specific standards exemptions for benzene, benzo[a]pyrene and manganese and manganese compounds while the company worked to reduce emissions over time by upgrading equipment or changing processes. The exemptions expired on June 30, 2023.
- Dofasco has not applied for a new exemption, and the Ministry has not developed an industry standard for these contaminants or for sulphur dioxide for the iron and steel sector. Without a site-specific standard or industry standard, the facility must meet health-based air quality standards for these contaminants.
- Although Dofasco’s abatement plan and approval include measures required by the Ministry to reduce emissions, those measures haven’t brought air emissions down to the health-based standards – they have just locked in the status quo.
About
Ecojustice uses the power of the law to combat climate change, defend nature, and fight for a healthy environment. Its strategic, public interest lawsuits and advocacy lead to precedent-setting court decisions, law and policy that deliver lasting solutions to Canada’s most urgent environmental problems. As Canada’s largest environmental law charity, Ecojustice operates offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax.