Thank you for giving me the…

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide input into your proposal to extend the expiry dates of the existing site-specific standards for ArcelorMittal Dofasco Inc. for suspended particulate matter, and benzene to June 30, 2023.

I live close to all of the steel industry companies being addressed by these standards, including ArcelorMittal Dofasco, so the continuation of site-specific standards for (benzene, suspended particulate matter, and manganese) over the next 2.5 years is very important to me.

In 2014 I was one of the residents who had to have the glass window shields replaced on my car because of acidic airborne emissions damage it received from ArcelorMittal Dofasco. Airborne emissions still continue to fall on my property from Dofasco and other plants in the area. A glass tabletop on my front porch is constantly being covered with “dust” from these factories year round; in the winter when I shovel my front porch the snow is dark grey.

While I support the extension of Site Specific Standards for steel industries in Hamilton I am concerned that you are not proposing to make these SSSs more stringent over the next 2.5 years nor are you proposing to update action plans to ensure that these contaminants are reduced to lower levels over this time period.

New, more stringent standards, must be established for these plants in our community as well as greater enforcement so that they exceed these requirements and meet the expectations of those of our community – and indeed those around the world - to have a healthier environment in the future.
Dofasco has one of the oldest coke fired plants in North America. These should be upgraded to produce steel more effectively and efficiently. This means phasing out old coke fired facilities and replacing them with environmentally cleaner processes such as electricity and others which may be developed in the future.

We need to encourage more innovative approaches in this sector to run more environmentally friendly businesses in our community. We know that some of these industries have initiated pilot environmentally friendly initiatives - including Dofasco - that have proven to be quite effective. These need to be integrated this industry's on-going regular operations and become part of reports to the Community Liaison Committees (CLCs) (which should be continued to ensure accountability to the community) when they discuss progress in addressing problems at these meetings and as well as how they are exceeding site-specific standards.

How do we encourage more innovation in this area? We need to encourage competition within this industry sector to implement innovative approaches through showcasing these positive initiatives to the public. I’m not talking about a PR exercise here but initiatives which are genuinely transforming our industries into environmental heroes. Initiatives that are believable and achievable.

Despite the pollution problems these companies have had in the past – and their need to address these problems now - they have also developed some best practices that could be shared with others in the community – including business colleagues. Community engagement, including education programs on innovative approaches the steel industry is implementing to become less polluting and more efficient, would be transformative for our community.