ArcelorMittal Dofasco fined more than $260K for cloud of pollution in 2018

ArcellorMittal Dofasco has been fined more than $268,750 after pleading guilty to a charge under the Environmental Protection Act in connection with a billowing black cloud from a blast furnace.

The plume was released on July 13, 2018, according to an agreed statement of facts that says the Hamilton steelmaker was fined under a section of the act prohibiting emissions that block the light for more than six minutes.

The company now has 90 days to pay.

Environment Hamilton tweeted Tuesday that it had documented the "massive release of pollution" with photos and that its staff had participated as a witness in the case.

Lynda Lukasik, the organization's executive director, said she spotted it while biking to work.

"At some points it was very black, so it just looked like black smoke being pushed out the top and then other times it was more a deep brown," she recalled. "It was very discoloured."

A Dofasco employee reported two separate emissions to the Ministry of Environment with one starting at 8:04 a.m. and the other at 8:53 a.m., with opacity from the cloud peaking at 70-100 per cent, according to the statement of facts.

In a brief statement shared Tuesday, Dofasco said a safety valve for its No. 2 blast furnace was released that day and "unfortunately" caused a "visible emission that exceeded Ontario's regulations."

The company added that its plea shows it "respects the regulations" and that it has "implemented tactics to reduce these emissions" going forward by focusing on stabilizing its process.

The statement of facts includes a rundown of past convictions for Dofasco, including a fine in 2014 following six opacity incidents and resulted in a fine of $390,000. The company was also fined $130,000 in 2018 for a similar offence, it reads.

Another issue with a blast furnace, which was not included in the court documents, caused a similar, black cloud in February 2019.

At that time, Dofasco's general manager and director of environment John Lundrigan wrote in an email to the company's community liaison committee that "an upset" at a blast furnaces caused a two-minute emission from safety valves.

It is "very unfortunate that this keeps happening," said Jochen Bezner, a member of the liaison committee, at the time.

"Any pollution issues that are that visible are a concern to the community."

Group wants fine for neighbourhoods near steelmaker

Money from the most-recent fine will go to the city, according to Environment Hamilton.

The organization is calling for the funds to be used to for neighbourhoods nearest to Hamilton's industrial areas.

"If this fine money is coming in, why not make sure you do something with it rather than having it disappear in the general coffers," said Lukasik. "Do something that helps to make those neighbourhoods better and more resilient when it comes to these kinds of impacts."

Dofasco has spent millions of dollars in recent years as part of efforts to cut down on clouds of pollution and particulate, including a plan to move coffining operations indoors.

However Lukasik said change has only come after years of pressure from advocates and government, which leaves her with a question.

"What assurances will we have that ongoing maintenance and upgrades will provide guarantee that we're going to have a cleaner future?"