GreenSudbury: Vale Inco wants to exceed pollution limits for nickel

The Turning up the Furnace meeting will be held at:
Location: Italian Club, 7 Craig Street, Copper Cliff
Date: October 23, 2008
Time: 6:00 to 7:30 pm

Many of you will, have already received or seen a published notice of a meeting that Vale Inco is holding on Thursday, October 23rd.

According to the notice, 'Vale Inco will be holding a public meeting regarding its application for an alternate standard under Ontario Regulation 419/05 Air Pollution Local Air Quality. The application for an alternate standard is focused on nickel for Vale Inco's Copper Cliff smelter.' The meeting details are:

The background is this: in 2005 a new regulation was passed (the Regulation 419/05 referred to in the meeting notice) with tougher limits for air pollution. Under the Regulation, companies can apply for an 'alternative standard' which will allow the company to continue to polllute at higher levels than the regulation permits, at least on an interim basis.

Over the last ten years, the Copper Cliff smelter has released 674 tonnes of nickel and nickel compounds into the air (not to mention 637 tonnes of lead, 460 tonnes of arsenic, etc).* Proposals like the one that will be discussed next Thursday night are reminders that the contamination is not just from historical sources, but also from ongoing operations.

Following a toxicity assessment done by Environment Canada in 1994, nickel compounds were classified as 'Carcinogenic to Humans', i.e., 'substances for which there is believed to be some chance of adverse health effects at any level of exposure.' The available data also indicated that exposure to nickel induces contact dermatitis in a proportion of the population. It was also concluded that each of the groups of nickel compounds as a whole are entering the environment in a quantity or concentration or under conditions that may constitute a danger in Canada to human life or health.**

Permits that allow Vale Inco to continue discharging nickel and other toxic substances into the air is a matter of public concern. A proposal to allow nickel and nickel compounds to be discharged at levels above what the regulation permits is a matter of even greater concern.

There is some information available on-line that you might find helpful in thinking about this proposal, including a fact sheet explaining the process for setting alternative standards, which is online at www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/gp/6034e.pdf, as well as information about the regulation itself, and other background details, which are at www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/AIR/regulations/localquality.htm. Information about Vale Inco's releases of pollutants to air and water are also available through the on-line National Pollutants Release Inventory, operated by Environment Canada at www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/npri/npri_home_e.cfm ( the Copper Cliff smelter NPRI ID # is 444).

These meetings are based on public interest, for your thoughts, opinions and concerns, to be voiced and included in decisions made for our living conditions. Please attend the meeting if your want to voice your say.