Hello, I live South of…

Hello,

I live South of Harsco, Stelco and Dofasco in Hamilton. I have great concern for my health and that of my neighbours and citizens of Hamilton & Burlington. The steel industry is a smelly neighbour when you are downwind from them. I have lived in many cities in Canada and abroad and have never had to consider where the wind is coming from before I open a window. The smells are noxious and make spending time outside unpleasant if not impossible making it hard to enjoy one’s property. Additionally, the smells are one thing, it’s the stuff one can’t smell that is also worry some. Below you will find my comments regarding MECP proposal to extend the Site Specific Standard for Harsco until 2023.

I noticed that the Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) for Harsco expires on the last day of December 2020. The last day of commenting for this Proposal is December 14, 2020. The closeness of these two dates concerns me greatly as Christmas/New Year holidays are between the end of commenting period and the start of 2021 which I would assume would be the start of the extension. The concern is that there seems to be very little time for you to consider all the comments to this proposal from the public regarding changes or amendments to your proposal. This makes me feel that you are not reading all comments and they have no impact on your decision, and that is not acceptable if the case.

I noticed the Ministry is not proposing an update to the action plans for Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM). I ask that a reduction update to the action plans for SPM is included in the extension. Harsco’s limits for SPM have been at the same level for 5 years. We need constant improvements and we need the Ministry to prescribe that in writing to the industry. It’s time to reduce the limit from 177 ug/m3 to something closer to the Reg. 419 limit of 120 ug/m3. When they control SPM then Manganese will be automatically reduced.

Another issue I have with SPM is that it’s combined. I would like to see a breakdown of PM10 and PM2.5 in limits. Enough data exists regarding the two sizes of the particulate & it’s health effects and combining them is outdated. 3 of the HAMN monitor stations collect data regarding PM2.5 and 7 of them collect data on PM10 not mentioning monitors on the industry site that you have access to. http://newreporting.hamnair.ca

The SSS for Manganese does not expire until June 2021. I ask that the Ministry takes more time than Dec 31, 2020 to extend the SSS and consider making the limits LOWER for Manganese. We want the industry to have constant goals for improvements because we have no choice regarding the air we breathe here in Hamilton.

I would like confirmation from the Ministry that the community liaison committees (CLC) continue during the extension of the SSS. We, as a community need regular updates to see the progress of the industry to meet the limits and that they communicate the quarterly reports to the CLC. This is really important because these are harmful chemicals and we should have a right to know what is happening. The proposal does not state whether the companies would be required to continue with CLC. Please make sure they do.