Vale Canada Limited - Environmental Compliance Approval (air)

Instrument type: Environmental Compliance Approval (air)

ERO number
019-3996
Ministry reference number
3794-C2CM8P
Notice type
Instrument
Act
Environmental Protection Act, R.S.O. 1990
Posted by
Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
Notice stage
Decision
Decision posted
Comment period
July 12, 2021 - August 26, 2021 (45 days) Closed
Last updated

This consultation was open from:
July 12, 2021
to August 26, 2021

Decision summary

An amended Environmental Compliance Approval with Limited Operational Flexibility has been issued for Vale Canada Limited, Copper Cliff Mine North located in Sudbury, Ontario. The facility is an underground nickel-copper mine.

Location details

Site address

Copper Cliff Mine North
1701 Elm Street, Unit 2
Sudbury , ON
Canada

Site location map

The location pin reflects the approximate area where environmental activity is taking place.

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Proponent(s)

Vale Canada Limited
337 Power Street
Copper Cliff
Sudbury, ON
P0M 1N0
Canada

Decision details

An amended Environmental Compliance Approval with Limited Operational Flexibility has been issued for Vale Canada Limited, Copper Cliff Mine North located in Sudbury, Ontario. The facility is an underground nickel-copper mine.

This Approval includes all emission sources from the mining and associated processes that exhaust to the atmosphere including hoisting ore and waist rock, ore crushing, backfilling, material handling and stockpiling, maintenance welding and various support activities.

Contaminant emissions to the atmosphere from this facility include:

  • metals such as nickel, cobalt, and lead
  • particulate matter
  • products of combustion such as nitrogen oxides

The Environmental Compliance Approval with Limited Operational Flexibility (air), when issued, permits modifications to the facility subject to limits on operational flexibility that include a production limit for the facility to be specified on the Environmental Compliance Approval with Limited Operational Flexibility (air).

The limited operational flexibility conditions have an expiry date. The company will be required to make an application for amendment at that time to renew these conditions.

Comments received

Through the registry

1

By email

0

By mail

0
View comments submitted through the registry

Effects of consultation

A comment was received which indicated concerns in regards to the health effects of noise, low frequency noise from mechanical equipment and the usage of A-weighting within the NPC-300 noise limits.

Ministry Response:

Publication NPC-300 (Environmental Noise Guideline) is based on a worst-case hour of operation. In assessing applications for approvals, the Ministry asks for information about noise in the range of 25 to 10,000 hertz. Sound in the frequency range below 20 Hertz is not typically audible to humans. Complaints of low frequency noise most often relate to indoor sound where a number of factors make it difficult to measure this noise. The province is actively monitoring emerging scientific studies and jurisdictional developments to inform decision makers how to address complaints related to indoor low frequency sound in specific situations. A-weighting (“dBA”) is used as a standard across the acoustic, noise control, and audiology communities as it reflects the sensitivity of the human ear at different frequencies.

The Ministry conducts inspections and responds to complaints to ensure that the operation of industrial facilities meet approval requirements. If a facility requires noise control measures to achieve compliance, acoustic audits are required to verify post-implementation compliance.

Supporting materials

View materials in person

Some supporting materials may not be available online. If this is the case, you can request to view the materials in person.

Get in touch with the office listed below to find out if materials are available.

Client Services and Permissions Branch
Address

135 St. Clair Avenue West
Floor 1
Toronto, ON
M4V 1P5
Canada

Office phone number

How to Appeal

This instrument decision can be appealed. You have 15 days from February 23, 2023 to begin the appeal process.

Carefully review the information below to learn more about the appeal process.

How to appealClick to Expand Accordion

Start the process to appeal

If you’re an Ontario resident, you can start the process to appeal this instrument decision.

First, you’ll need to seek leave (i.e. get permission) from the relevant appellate body to appeal the decision.

If the appellate body grants leave, the appeal itself will follow.

Seek leave to appeal

To seek leave to appeal, you need to do these three things:

  1. prepare your application
  2. provide notice to the minister
  3. mail your application to three parties

1. Prepare your application

You’ll need to prepare an application. You may wish to include the following things in your application:

  1. A document that includes:
    • your name, phone number, fax number (if any), and/or email address
    • the ERO number and ministry reference number (located on this page)
    • a statement about whether you are a resident in Ontario
    • your interest in the decision, and any facts you want taken into account in deciding whether you have an interest in the decision
    • the parts of the instrument that you’re challenging
    • whether the decision could result in significant harm to the environment
    • the reason(s) why you believe that no reasonable person – having regard to the relevant law and to any government policies developed to guide decisions of that kind – could have made the decision
    • the grounds (facts) you’ll be using to appeal
    • the outcome you’d like to see
  2. A copy of the instrument (approval, permit, order) that you you are seeking leave to appeal. You’ll find this in the decision notice on the Environmental Registry
  3. Copies of all supporting documents, facts and evidence that you’ll be using to appeal
What is considered

The appeal body will consider the following two questions in deciding whether to grant you leave to appeal:

  1. is there is good reason to believe that no reasonable person, with respect to the relevant law and to any government policies developed to guide decisions of that kind, could have made the decision?
  2. could the decision you wish to appeal result in significant harm to the environment?

2. Provide your notice

You’ll need to provide notice to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks that you’re seeking leave to appeal.

In your notice, please include a brief description of the:

  • decision that you wish to appeal
  • grounds for granting leave to appeal

You can provide notice by email at minister.mecp@ontario.ca or by mail at:

College Park 5th Floor, 777 Bay St.
Toronto, ON
M7A 2J3

3. Mail your application

You’ll need to mail your application that you prepared in step #1 to each of these three parties:

  • appellate body
  • issuing authority (the ministry official who issued the instrument)
  • proponent (the company or individual to whom the instrument was issued)

Issuing authority
Nancy Orpana
Manager, Air Approvals

Environmental Permissions Branch
135 St. Clair Avenue West
Toronto, ON
M4V 1P5
Canada

(613) 484-2675

Proponent(s)

Vale Canada Limited
337 Power Street
Copper Cliff
Sudbury, ON
P0M 1N0
Canada


Appellate body

Registrar, Ontario Land Tribunal
655 Bay Street, Suite 1500
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E5
(416) 212-6349
(866) 448-2248
OLT.Registrar@ontario.ca

About the Ontario Land Tribunal


Include the following:

ERO number
019-3996
Ministry reference number
3794-C2CM8P

This is not legal advice. Please refer to the Environmental Bill of Rights for exact legal requirements. Consult a lawyer if you need help with the appeal process.

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Original proposal

ERO number
019-3996
Ministry reference number
3794-C2CM8P
Notice type
Instrument
Act
Environmental Protection Act, R.S.O. 1990
Posted by
Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
Proposal posted

Comment period

July 12, 2021 - August 26, 2021 (45 days)

Proposal details

This proposal is for the renewal of the Limited Operational Flexibility for Environmental Compliance Approval (air & noise) No. 3572-AL3QG2 for Vale Canada Limited, for the Copper Cliff Mine North located in Sudbury, Ontario. The facility is an underground nickel-copper mine.

This proposal includes all emission sources from the mining and associated processes that exhaust to the atmosphere including hoisting ore and waist rock, ore crushing, backfilling, material handling and stockpiling and maintenance welding; as well as any other equipment and ancillary and support processes and activities.

Contaminant emissions to the atmosphere from this facility include:

  • metals such as nickel, cobalt, and lead
  • particulate matter
  • products of combustion such as nitrogen oxides

The Environmental Compliance Approval with Limited Operational Flexibility (air), when issued, permits modifications to the facility subject to limits on operational flexibility that include a production limit for the facility to be specified on the Environmental Compliance Approval with Limited Operational Flexibility (air).

The limited operational flexibility conditions have an expiry date. The company will be required to make an application for amendment at that time to renew these conditions.

Supporting materials

View materials in person

Some supporting materials may not be available online. If this is the case, you can request to view the materials in person.

Get in touch with the office listed below to find out if materials are available.

Comment

Commenting is now closed.

This consultation was open from July 12, 2021
to August 26, 2021

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