Environmental group opposes renewal of emissions exemption for Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie.
Algoma Steel CEO says the company’s emissions will go up temporarily as it transitions to electrification
An environmental group is asking members of the public to oppose a request from Algoma Steel which would allow it to temporarily exceed provincial emissions standards.
Since 2021, Algoma Steel has been surpassing limits on four chemicals: benzene, benzo(a)pyrene, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter.
Kerrie Blaise, a lawyer and the founder of Legal Advocates for Nature's Defence, said exceeding benzene levels is especially troubling to her.
That is a toxin for which there's no safe level and that has already been linked to hotspots for acute myeloid leukemia in the Sault Ste. Marie area," she said.
In an email to CBC News, Ontario's Ministry of the Environment said that Algoma Steel is currently under an abatement plan that was accepted in August 2024.
The company's latest application is for a new site-specific standard for air emissions as it transitions from integrated basic oxygen steel making to a cleaner electric arc furnace.
Algoma Steel CEO, Michael Garcia, said the company's current furnace in Sault Ste. Marie was built in the 1970s and uses iron ore, limestone and coal, cooked at high temperatures in coke ovens to produce steel. However, during an interview on Monday with CBC Radio, he said all that is due to improve.
"Electric furnace technology is a different process for making steel," Garcia said.
"We use scrap metal to make steel; scrap metal from recycled automobiles, recycled durable goods, as well as other types of virgin metallic units."
Garcia said Algoma Steel will start making "green steel" with its new furnace in the first quarter of next year.
Although it won't be fully operational until 2029, Garcia said the electric arc furnace will reduce the company's emissions by 70 per cent when it's up and running.
But he added there will be a transition period where both furnaces are running, as the company ramps up its production with the new electric arc furnace.
He said the company's application for a site-specific standard is to reflect the additional emissions that will come during that transition period.
The comment period for Algoma Steel's submission ends on Monday, Nov. 4.
But Blaise, of Legal Advocates for Nature's Defence, said there's currently no indication as to when the Ministry of the Environment will make its decision.
"So I would say even if you missed Monday's deadline, continue to submit your concerns," she said.
With files from Kate Rutherford and Markus Schwabe