STACK OPACITY

As reported on the ASI website, all three coke oven batteries are out of compliance with air quality regulations DAILY!

Below is an example of what is posted daily(?) on the ASI website...

https://www.algoma.com/environment/reporting/ ... click on "Recent Environmental Incidents"

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

ASI  operates under several "licences" issued by the MECP; these are called  ECAs (Environmental Compliance Approval).

In Ontario, any organization that intends to emit chemicals to the air must first submit an application to the Ontario Ministry of Environment Conservation and Parks (MECP) for an ECA ( formerly known as a "C of A" or Certificate of Approval) for air emissions and noise. 
To get (or revise existing) an ECA requires that a comprehensive report be filed with the MOE. In this report, various information is required to establish that the planned air emissions and noise will meet the MOE air emission standards and guidelines. The type of information required includes an air emissions summary dispersion modeling (ESDM), site drawings, operational data, and a noise and vibration survey.
​

 edited excerpts from... An Existing (current) ECA 

AMENDED CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL AIR NUMBER 3614-82DLFY
Issue Date: March 31, 2010
ESSAR Steel Algoma Inc.
105 West Street
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.....

9. The Company shall update, as necessary, the Fugitive Dust Management Plan for the control of all fugitive dust sources
in the Facility and shall implement the measures in the last updated Plan. The Plan shall include, as a minimum:
(1) identification of the main sources of fugitive dust emissions such as:
(a) on-site traffic;...

10. The Company shall make public an environmental complaint hotline on the environment page of its corporate website.
The Company shall also notify the District Manager, in writing, of each environmental complaint within two (2) business
days of the complaint. ...

The Company shall, on a monthly basis, post within the first week of each month, in its corporate website a summary of
all environmental complaints received by the Company. These summaries shall be made available in hard copies upon
request, for inspection by any interested member of the public....

11. The Company shall inform the public by posting on the Company's corporate website all incidences with environmental
impacts related to process upsets, failure of any equipment, including failure of any air pollution control equipment, in the
Facility within twenty-four (24) hours of occurrence of the incidence or within a time period directed by the District
Manager.

12. The Company shall retain, for a minimum of two (2) years from the date of their creation, all records and information
related to or resulting from the recording activities required by this Certificate, and make these records available for review
by staff of the Ministry upon request. The Company shall retain:...

(3) all records on the environmental complaints; including:...


14. The Company shall, on or before June 1, 2010, include the following information as part of its existing environmental
website:
(1) contact information that members of the public can request for environmental monitoring data;
(2) expansion on history of public concerns from the present one (1) month to six (6) months;
(3) expansion on history of environmental incidences from the present one (1) month to three (3) months; and
(4) results of monitoring of benzene and polyaromatic hydrocarbons.

15.1 The Company shall maintain the operation of the Community Liaison Committee (CLC). The objectives of the CLC
shall include:
(1) Keeping the community informed about the operations of the Facility in relation to the requirements of this Certificate.
(2) Keeping the Company informed of any community concerns about the operations of the Facility.
(3) To serve as a forum for the dissemination, review and exchange of information related to the Facility.

15.5 By May 28, 2010, the Company shall hold one (1) special meeting of the CLC and a Community Open House to
update the local community on the following:...

(v) the results of the combined monitoring and modelling study conducted by the Company, and the plan of
the Company, complete with timelines, on the application for site-specific standards of benzene and
benzo(a)pyrene for the Facility;
(vi) the details of the Company's plan, including but not limited to the anticipated environmental impacts, on
the replacement of its existing No. 7 coke oven battery.

Note: All 3 of ASI's coke oven  batteries are 45-50+ years old!