Vale Canada Limited - Approval of a site-specific air standard

Decision overview

Following a 30-day public consultation period, we are issuing a site-specific standard for nickel for Vale Canada Limited, Copper Cliff Smelter.

Vale has a site-specific standard for nickel of 1.0 microgram per cubic metre (annual average) issued in December 2011 which expires on December 28, 2021. Vale is seeking a new site-specific standard to ensure their current efforts to reduce air emissions over time continue.

Vale has requested a nickel site-specific standard of 0.4 micrograms per cubic metre (annual average) for a period of 10 years (2021-2031).

The ministry has reviewed this request, and the new nickel site-specific standard approval is attached to this notice.

Background

Vale currently has a site-specific standard for nickel, which was originally approved by the ministry in December 2011 with an expiry date of December 28, 2021. The current approved site-specific standard for the facility for nickel is 1.0 micrograms per cubic metre (annual average).

We are working to ensure cleaner air for the people of Ontario by regulating air contaminants released into communities by local industrial and commercial facilities, including Vale Canada Limited (Vale) in Sudbury, Ontario.

The ministry has approved Vale’s request for a new site-specific standard for nickel for ten years (2021-2031). The new site-specific standard will ensure their current efforts to reduce air emissions over time continue.

This new approved site-specific standard includes more stringent limits requirements than Vale’s existing site-specific standard due to improvements they have already made. The ministry recognizes the efforts made by Vale to date and anticipates that their contributions of nickel to the local air will be further reduced once the action plan is fully implemented.

As part of this approval, Vale must continue implementing their action plan to reduce concentrations of nickel, which they estimate will be reduced by 60 percent over the next 10 years.

Review of the Request

A review of the request has determined that it is feasible for Vale to achieve a maximum nickel point of impingement concentration of 0.4 micrograms per cubic metre (annual average) after the implementation of the action plan. Vale must continue implementing their action plan to reduce concentrations of nickel, which they estimate will be reduced by 60 percent over the next 10 years. The nickel site-specific approval requires Vale to:

1. Continue to conduct ambient air monitoring for nickel at existing 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.
2. Provide the ministry with annual written summaries of the status of the revised nickel action plan implementation and make these summaries available to the public.
3. Continue to investigate and report to the ministry further measures taken to minimize the frequency of exceedance for nickel.

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

We are working to ensure cleaner air for the people of Ontario by regulating air contaminants released into communities by local industrial and commercial facilities, including Vale.

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 10 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.

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 10 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 (ERO 011-1617) was conducted in 2011, at the time of the original nickel site-specific standard application, when the ministry review had indicated that Vale met the notification and consultation requirements of O. Reg. 419/05.

As the current 2020 application is an application for a contaminant with a previously approved site-specific standard, in accordance with subsection 34 (1.1) of O. Reg. 419/05, a public meeting is not required. Additionally, due to COVID-19 restrictions, a public meeting was not possible for 2020.

Instead, Vale published the material that would normally be presented at a public meeting online and notified the community and stakeholders that would normally be notified if there were a public meeting, including First Nations. The process and results are presented in the Public Consultation Report attached to the application submitted by Vale.