 Algoma Steel pictured in February 2024. For years the plant has legal permission to emit more particulate matter pollution and the cancer-causing substance benzene than what’s allowed under law. Credit: Brian Bienkowski/EHN  View of Algoma Steel emissions from nearby neighborhoods. Pictured in 2020. Credit: Christopher Katsarov Luna/EHN On January 20, Algoma Steel reported a “collapse of structure supporting utilities piping” at their coke-making plant (coke is a key ingredient in steelmaking that involves heating coal to extremely high temperatures). The company was forced to shut down coke production for nearly three weeks after the accident. As a result, an unknown amount of flushing liquor was released into the St. Marys River, Gary Wheeler, a spokesperson with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, told EHN. Flushing liquor is used to cool coke oven gas, recover valuable chemicals and remove sticky and corrosive components created in the coke-making process, he said. The main contaminants in flushing liquor are ammonia and phenols, Wheeler said. The Ministry hasn’t found any aquatic impacts yet, but is reviewing water samples taken. The pipeline break, and 2022 oil spill as well as all the other accidents, are linked to the plant’s aging infrastructure, McLarty believes. “This incident could have happened anytime and can happen again because of [it],” he said. “We’re hollering but nobody’s listening.” - Peter McLarty, Clean North These incidents come in addition to the tons of legal pollution that Algoma sends into the St. Marys River each year. In 2022 (the most recent year with available data), company modeling estimates it discharged more than five tons of zinc, 13 tons of ammonia, which is toxic to aquatic life; 211 pounds of lead, which is considered unsafe at any level in drinking water; 1.5 tons of manganese, which damages the nervous system at high level; and 109 tons of nitrate, which has been linked to cancer, reproductive problems and birth defects when found in drinking water. According to an EHN analysis of Algoma Steel’s annual modeling data, over the past decade the company has poured into the St. Marys River more than 430 tons of ammonia, nearly three tons of benzene, 4,600 pounds of lead, 18 tons of manganese, 2,367 tons of nitrates and 55 tons of zinc. This is on top of the air pollution Algoma Steel spews from its stacks every year. In 2022, the company estimates it emitted more than six tons of benzene, more than 1,000 tons of nitrogen dioxide and more than 170 tons of particulate matter, along with other harmful air contaminants.  For some of these pollutants, like benzene, benzo(a)pyrene and particulate matter, the company has operated under a “site specific standard” — which allows the company to emit beyond legal limits. Wheeler said companies can get this type of permit when there are “limitations in technology or potential economic considerations.” As a result, the plant has a pass to emit benzene and benzo(a)pyrene to nearby air five times and 400 times higher, respectively, than the province’s standard. This has led to situations where neighborhoods in Sault Sainte Marie, Canada, receive amounts of benzo(a)pyrene up to 324 times higher than air quality regulations, according to an investigation from the National Observer last year. Although the plant’s standards expired in 2023, the Ministry is reviewing another round of requests from Algoma Steel, including a new requested site-specific standard for sulfur dioxide, Wheeler said. While this process of giving a special permit to the company is public, a review of the last consultation found that residents raised concerns about how short the public comment period was and what health impacts the company’s ongoing pollution has in the community. McLarty also pointed out that Algoma Steel’s own environmental incident reports show “daily violations of regulations.” Wheeler said the eventual electric arc furnace overhaul at the plant should remove the need for these air pollution exceedances. “Algoma anticipates it will meet Ontario’s air standards at the completion of this transition,” he said, and added that the proposed plan “will significantly reduce benzene, benzo(a)pyrene, sulfur dioxide emissions, and other contaminants including greenhouse gases, and have a substantial positive impact on air quality in the local community.” In the meantime, health problems plague the community.
Health problems
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