PUBLIC NOTICE:
ASI is applying for new SSS standards and held a public open house Monday, February 28, 2022. Materials presented at the meeting may be found at ...   https://www.algoma.com/environment/environmental-community/


Regulating air contaminants in  Ontario,

The MECP regulates air contaminants to protect communities that reside close to industrial sites.
Ontario's Local Air Quality Regulation (O. Reg. 419/05: Air Pollution - Local Air Quality) works within the province's air management framework to address contaminants released by various sources, including industrial and commercial facilities.

Some industries cannot meet the regulatory limits immediately because of the huge capital requirements that are required to replace out-dated technologies. The "site-specific-standard" (SSS) is a "loosened"  level of the regulations which is determined to be "achievable" within a specified time frame. The company must demonstrate annually that it is reducing its level of emissions for the specified contaminants.

Site-specific standards are developed with full public transparency through public meetings and consultations. They include technology benchmarking to determine what is feasible for a company to achieve to control emission of a contaminant over a set period (i.e., at least five years but not more than ten years). The regulation allows the director to issue a notice to the company that has a site-specific standard approval to extend the expiry date, if the new expiry date is within 10 years of the approval date of the original site-specific standard.
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Compliance with a site-specific standard, just like a general air standard, must be demonstrated by using air Emission Summary Dispersion Modelling (ESDM).

NOTE: ASI applied to the MECP for an extension of the expiry dates and was granted an extension to June 2023 for both Benzene and suspended particulate matter.