Glencore Canada Corporation - Approval of a site-specific air standard

Proposal overview

Glencore has requested a cadmium site-specific standard of:

• 0.180 micrograms per cubic metre (24-hour average) from August 1, 2020 until December 2021
• 0.061 micrograms per cubic metre (24-hour average) thereafter from January 1, 2022 until July 31, 2030

The ministry has reviewed this request, and the proposed cadmium site-specific approval is attached to this notice.

Background

Glencore currently has a site-specific standard for cadmium which was originally approved by the ministry in January 2013 with an expiry date of December 31, 2018. The current approved site-specific standard for the facility for cadmium is 0.19 micrograms per cubic metre (24-hour average).

On December 7, 2018, the ministry approved a request by Glencore to extend the expiry date of the site-specific standard to July 31, 2020. The reasons for this extension were:

• changes to the planned stack and ducting arrangements from the original cadmium action plan. This included construction of a new 65 metre stack instead of the original plan of using a re-furbished 140 metre stack
• to allow additional time for commissioning of the revised cadmium action plan, specifically the new secondary off-gas system

Glencore is implementing the revised cadmium action plan to address cadmium emissions from the facility. This revised cadmium action plan includes installation of:

• new secondary hooding in the converter aisle area of the smelter
• a new 65 metre stack for use with the new secondary hooding

The installation of this equipment is complete, and Glencore is continuing with the optimization of the installed system for regular use.

Review of Request

A review of the request has determined that it is feasible for Glencore to achieve a maximum cadmium point of impingement concentration of 0.061 micrograms per cubic metre (24-hour average) after the implementation of the revised cadmium action plan. The proposed cadmium site-specific approval requires Glencore to:

1. verify cadmium emission rates from the main cadmium emission sources at the facility, after implementation of the revised cadmium action plan and demonstrate compliance with the site-specific standard
2. provide the ministry with annual written summaries of the status of the revised cadmium action plan implementation and make available these summaries to the public
3. continue to conduct ambient air monitoring for cadmium at designated community ambient monitoring stations and provide a report to the ministry addressing any exceedances of measured levels (at community monitors) set out in the site-specific approval

Regulating air contaminants in Ontario

In Ontario, we regulate air contaminants to protect communities that reside close to industrial sites. Our regulatory approach has resulted in improvements in air emissions.

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 to air into communities by various sources, including industrial and commercial facilities.

Air standards

Our approach to improving local air quality starts with setting science-based standards to protect human health and the environment. The air standards are used to:

• assess the performance of regulated facilities
• identify those that need to do more to reduce their emissions

Facilities that are not able to meet an air standard due to technological or economic limitations may request a site-specific standard or a technical standard.

Site-specific standards

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 in terms of controlling emission of a contaminant over a set period of time (i.e., at least five years but not more than ten years).

Compliance with a site-specific standard, just like a general air standard, must be demonstrated by using air dispersion modelling.

The ministry closely oversees the companies’ progress to ensure that the desired results are achieved.

Other Information

Subsection 35(1) of the Local Air Quality Regulation (O. Reg. 419/05) includes provisions for the approval of site-specific standards and associated rules for making such requests. A site-specific standard may be approved for a period of five to ten years. If a facility receives approval for the site-specific standard and continues to meet these requirements, then the facility is operating in compliance with O. Reg. 419/05. The site-specific standard becomes the legally enforceable standard for that facility for the time period of the approval. A facility may also request a subsequent site-specific standard. Further information regarding O. Reg. 419/05 and the site-specific standard process can be accessed at the ministry website.

Other Public Consultation Opportunities

An extensive public consultation program was conducted in 2011 at the time of the original cadmium site-specific standard application when the ministry review had indicated that Glencore met the notification and consultation requirements of O. Reg.419/05.

As the current 2018 application is an application for a contaminant with a previously approved site-specific standard, in accordance with subsection 32 (1.1) of O. Reg. 419, a public meeting is not required. However, a Falconbridge community meeting was held by Glencore on February 28, 2018, which was attended by local residents and ministry personnel.

The purpose of the meeting was to inform the public and gather their input on the application for the cadmium site-specific standard. Comments provided during the meeting were considered in the review of the proposal.