I recently moved from…

I recently moved from Toronto and bought a house in Hamilton’s East end and am absolutely horrified with the amount of pollution in our city and specifically, this end of town. I’ve seen rolling yellow clouds crossing Eastport Dr and the particulate matter and fairly constant putrid chemical smells have kept me from jogging and spending time outdoors. I spent much more time outdoors living in Toronto for the past 25 years so this has been a fairly disappointing experience. I have no idea how people have lived here their whole lives and raised families under this umbrella of pollution.

I am writing to urge you to improve the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change’s draft policy for Cumulative Effects Assessment in air approvals. People in this community are located near multiple major industrial polluters and are facing serious health risks from contaminants such as benzene, particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons like benzo-a-pyrene that are emitted by these facilities EVERY DAY. These chemicals are known to be highly carcinogenic. This doesn’t even take into account the already present ambient pollution emitted from automobiles.

This community, and Hamilton as a whole, cannot sustain additional air pollution. Please recognize that there is a need to prohibit new sources of air pollution, which should include expansion of any current facility. Furthermore, I would like to see an assessment of the cumulative effects of all industrial air emissions in an area, including non-routine sources such as flaring and coffining. ArcelorMittal Dofasco has admitted to this procedure, however, only AFTER being held accountable by residents who took footage of the events. Coffining is a process during which liquid iron is poured into slag beds to dispose of excess hot metal. This creates huge toxic clouds, likely what I saw floating over Eastport Dr.

The province’s air quality standards need to be updated to ensure all Hamiltonians (and Ontarians) receive equal protection from industrial air pollution under the law. Please choose to promote respect for the basic human right to breathe clean air.

[Original Comment ID: 212370]