Blast furnace must not pollute: mayor
If Stelco does rebuild, and makes steel again, it must meet the latest and highest air standards, observers say
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger says the province should not allow Stelco to restart its idled blast furnace unless the bayfront facility meets stringent air emission standards.
“Let’s not rebuild something that has not been particularly good for our air quality. Let’s build a modern facility that is as clean as current technology allows,” he says.
“My view is that it’s got to meet the best air quality standards that we have currently in place. Hopefully, (the emissions) would be as close to pristine as they could get them. I would say it has to meet current standards, not standards from 20 years ago.”
Stelco has not announced the furnace at its Hamilton operation will be refired, something that could cost as much as $50 million and create hundreds of jobs. But the company has been making major strides in that direction.
In January, Stelco said it would stabilize rather than follow through on the scheduled demolition of some key components of its steelmaking infrastructure: three basic oxygen furnace (BOF) stacks that were idled along with the blast furnace.
Observers interpreted that to mean the company wanted to keep its options open about getting back into steelmaking in Hamilton because the BOF stacks would work in tandem with the blast furnace. As it is now, Stelco in Hamilton only does coke-making, cold mill and finishing operations. Actual steelmaking is handled by
the company’s more modern Nanticoke operation.
Then in a surprise move last month, Stelco said it was buying nearly 3,000 acres of land in Hamilton and Nanticoke for $114 million. Most of the property involved in the purchase was being leased by Stelco from a land trust that was formed as part of the takeover deal by American venture capital firm Bedrock Industries.
The purchase was particularly interesting because it expanded Stelco’s property line to include land on which the idled blast furnace and other non-operational steelmaking operations are located in Hamilton.
Previously, that land, and those structures, were deemed surplus to Stelco’s needs and slated for remediation and future resale for something other than steelmaking by the provincial government-backed land trust.
Stelco won’t discuss its blast furnace plans.
But Alan Kestenbaum, the company’s executive chairperson and chief executive officer, said in a statement “this acquisition provides Stelco with significantly greater strategic operational flexibility and allows Stelco the ability to grow its core business.”
The blast furnace was “hot idled” in 2010 by then owner U.S. Steel Canada. A few years later, the company took the further critical step of cooling down the furnace, a process that causes enormous damage and would lead to tens of millions of dollars in startup costs to bring it back
on stream.
The prospect of a restarted blast furnace is not sitting well with people who live near Stelco and its competitor ArcelorMittal Dofasco.
Recent years have seen conflict between residents in northeast Hamilton and ArcelorMittal Dofasco, as well as intervention by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) over that company’s air emissions. The residents fear a reinvigorated Stelco will lead to more air pollution episodes and a degradation of general air quality in the eastern parts of the city.
“I am worried and I hope this company will take the concerns of the community seriously,” said Kerry Bear, who lives in the area of Barton and Gage. “We know that the MOECC is quite toothless when it comes to imposing any kind of regulations on these companies.”
The MOECC says the company has not filed paperwork to indicate it is planning to restart the furnace.
If the company does announce plans to restart the furnace, spokesperson Gary Wheeler said in a written statement to The Spectator that the ministry would “assess the company’s restart proposal before the facility is allowed to go back in operation.”
“The equipment must be capable of meeting the standards currently in the ministry’s Local Air Quality Regulation. If modifications are or would be needed, any changes to the operation of the facility were proposed, or the equipment does not meet the Local Air Quality Regulation, then new approvals or amendments to the existing environmental compliance approval(s) may be required.”
But Environment Hamilton executive director Lynda Lukasik says she doubts the ministry will be effective in controlling air pollution at a reinvigorated Stelco.
“This response doesn’t make me feel good. Why is the (ministry) person not saying ‘will be required’ when it comes to new approvals or amendments to existing approvals if there are issues? This response says to me that we may see an old facility restarted and eligible to go down the ‘site specific standard’ route — where the company is given years and years to work toward meeting the air quality standards.
“What people want to see is new facilities that bring the benefits of lower emissions. We will all be watching very closely.”
Hamilton city councillor Sam Merulla believes the ministry has been ineffective in dealing with industrial air pollution because environmental laws are toothless.
“Until the province steps up to the plate we will be subject to many (air pollution) fallouts because there is virtually no penalty for irresponsible behaviour if companies choose to be irresponsible,” he said.
‘‘What people want to see is new facilities that bring the benefits of lower emissions.
LYNDA LUKASIK
ENVIRONMENT HAMILTON