Smoke stack makes cross-town trip
10-storey stack is part of five-year pollution action plan for Hamilton’s biggest steelmaker
HAMILTON— ArcelorMittal Dofasco welcomed a huge piece of its promised five-year pollution control plan this weekend.
A really huge piece — as in, a smoke stack 10 storeys high, nearly as wide as four adult humans end-to-end and weighing in at about 100,000 pounds.
As in, big enough to require a five-hour police escort and dozens of utility workers scurrying ahead of the pollution-control stack that inched across the east of the city on the weekend.
Hamilton police issued an early “wide load haulage” warning Saturday morning and at least six paid duty officers were always on hand during the slow, eightkilometre journey from stack manufacturer Greco Bros. in Stoney Creek to the steelmaker’s Strathearne Ave. home.
The unwieldy load wasn’t so good on corners — or with traffic lights and hydro wires, for that matter.
So various gas, phone, cable and hydro officials — including 15 workers from Alectra Utilities alone — stayed busy taking down wires that hung in the path of the Big Pipe.
It was a popular sight for residents, said Ron Greco, co-owner of the company that spent five months fabricating and welding together the stainless steel monster.
“It was like a parade — people were following along behind it . . . everyone wanted a photo,” he said with a laugh.
AM Dofasco spokesperson Marie Verdun said in a brief email the stack is destined for the steelmaker’s No. 4 blast furnace.
The new stack also appears to be listed as a $3.6-million project in the company’s 2015-2020 action plan to cut its pollution impact on the city.
A community presentation on the plan says the hood and stack is slated for 2018 installation and designed to help cut particulate and sulphur-related emissions.
Environment Hamilton head Lynda Lukasik is cautiously optimistic about the latest addition to the stackheavy skyline in the industrial east end.
“It’s something they’ve promised for a long time. Now that it’s finally here, I’m hopeful its good news for all of us, from an air-quality perspective,” said Lukasik.
She recalls asking company officials to cut down “fugitive emissions” from the No. 4 blast furnace a decade ago.
The new stack is part of the longterm plan to cut particulate pollution — lung-busting floating dust, smoke and aerosols — by 20 per cent by 2020.
Total reduced sulphur emissions
“It’s something they’ve promised for a long time. Now that it’s finally here, I’m hopeful its good news for all of us, from an air-quality perspective.” LYNDA LUKASIK ENVIRONMENT HAMILTON HEAD
are expected to come into line with the latest provincial regulations.
The city’s biggest steelmaker has struggled to control pollution outbursts from aging infrastructure in recent years.
Last year, residents were outraged by a series of giant dark plumes reported over the facility caused by “coffining,” or the dumping of excess hot iron in outdoor pits. The company also was fined $162,000 early this year as a result of black soot from a blast furnace incident that rained down on a nearby neighbourhood.
East end Councillor Sam Merulla, who has been increasingly critical of the company’s commitment to environmental protection, called the stack arrival a “positive step” toward better air quality.
“Now we just need to see a commitment to continuing these steps.”