Ministry wants changes to clinker dust pile at canal
A company unloading clinker dust next to the Welland Canal in north St. Catharines won’t be allowed to accept any more shipments until it improves the way it contains the cement material.
The ultimatum from the Ministry of Environment to Great Lakes Stevedoring comes after two air samples from the city’s north end exceeded the quality limits set for suspended particulate matter related to visibility.
Brad Farnand, area supervisor for the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, told about 60 concerned residents gathered at Grantham Lions
Club Wednesday night the ministry has drawn up a provincial officer order for compliance.
But the ministry won’t be issuing the order for the time being because the company has said it’s willing to come to a resolution voluntarily. It will be required to come up with a new dust management plan that meets the ministry’s approval.
“Until they have a plan in place, they’re not taking in any additional material,” Farnand told residents, adding the ministry hasn’t ruled out issuing the order if a resolution isn’t reached.
Port Weller residents on both sides of the canal have been raising the alarm about clinker dust settling on their properties since Great Lakes Stevedoring started unloading shipments into a large pile north of Lakeshore Road and trucking it to Woodstock.
The dust, used in the manufacture of Portland cement, can cause skin irritation, burning eyes and respiratory irritation at certain levels and possible cancer or lung disease with repeated exposure through inhalation, according to an MSDS sheet.
Health concerns were repeatedly raised by residents at the meeting, with some complaining of recent breathing issues and others questioning how the dust is impacting the canal, lake and beaches.
Resident Carla Allan said she was worried about the children at two elementary schools near the site and said the school board should get involved.
“We don’t know what the longterm effects are,” she said after the meeting.
Public health officials have not found any health risks in Port Weller based on the ministry’s air samples to date.
Peter Jekel, Niagara Region manager of environmental health, told residents that samples which exceeded the limits were sent to Public Health Ontario and it found no health risks.
He said the health department will continue to monitor the situation but can only issue orders based on health parameters.
Farnand said the Ministry of the Environment first became aware of the clinker issue in
April 2016 when it investigated discharges on Port Weller’s west side, which led to houses being power washed, along with cars, driveways, lawn furniture and decks. A smaller discharge happened in July or August 2016 involving fewer properties.
Farnand said the company changed the way it was moving the material after that and based on fewer resident complaints in 2017, it seemed to be working.
The ministry did receive five or six complaints which led to monitoring of inhalable particulate matter on both sides of the canal.
Results taken over five weeks in November and December were within Ontario’s ambient air quality criteria. But out of seven or eight samples drawn in May, two were found to exceed the limit of 120 for suspended particulate matter related to visibility, at 237 and 167.
Based on the exceedances, the ministry drafted up the provincial officer order and met with company officials on Tuesday.
Farnand said the company’s new dust management plan may include bringing in a vacuum system that would draw clinker dust from ships into trucks, or building a structure so all of the loading is done indoors.
He said the company received its last pile of clinker dust for the season and still has to finish loading it onto trucks. It’s expected to take two to three weeks for the material to be gone.
During that time, he said, there will be additional road sweeping and cleaning.
But many residents at the meeting questioned why the company isn’t being given a cease and desist order. They also expressed frustration that representatives from the federal government, which owns the land, and St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., which leases the land to the company, didn’t come to the meeting.
Grantham ward Couns. Bill Phillips and Sandie Bellows organized the meeting for residents, but the city has no jurisdiction over the land whatsoever.
A representative from the company was not available to speak to The Standard Thursday.