Vale's pollution reduction plan will create jobs

Mining giant Vale says its new plan to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions in Sudbury will create 1,300 new jobs.

Angie Robson, speaking for the company, said Vale's $2 billion Atmospheric Emissions Reduction project will create many new jobs and reduce Vale's emissions by 70 per cent.

"It's definitely an ambitious project, but a lot of the up-front engineering has been done so construction will begin next year and there's a very comprehensive project schedule that will see us complete it by the end of 2015," Robson said at a Vale open house in Copper Cliff Wednesday.

The project will require the final approval from Vale's Board of Directors and the Ministry of the Environment will then conduct a full review.

Scott Grant, an air pollution specialist with the Ministry of Environment, said the review will take four to six months.

Grant noted that Vale's request for an extended deadline to meet the new requirements was not a surprise.

"It actually is par for the course," Grant said. "For these larger facilities, whether it's the steel industry, or some of the petro-chemical facilities or the smelter industry, we are seeing a lot of companies come forward with new air pollution control programs, but they need time to implement them." 

The project is expected to be approved by Vale's board of directors by the end of the year.