Residents of several north Hamilton houses complained of grainy black particles falling on their neighbourhood Monday, at about the same time ArcelorMittalDofasco reported an emissions problem at its steel plant.
The event happened around 1:45 p.m. while retiree George Manger was out shovelling his driveway.
'I was standing right here breathing all this crap in, whatever it is.'- George Manger, Grenfell Street resident
"I've seen fallout before … but not like this," Manger said, looking at the black grains that had settled atop the snow around his Grenfell Street driveway.
"I was standing right here breathing all this crap in, whatever it is."
Vera McConnell, Manger's neighbour, said she saw a large black cloud emerge from the steel plant and pass over the street.
"It just went right over our house," McConnell said.
McConnell, a senior who has spent 25 years of her life on Grenfell Street, said she's concerned about the health of children in the area. Across the street from Manger's house, one set of parents told their two boys to be careful not to ingest the grit while playing in the snow.
Steel company notified government
Neighbours George Manger, right, and Debbie Lapointe said while soot from the steel mill is nothing new, the larger size of this particulate is worrisome. (John Rieti/CBC)
ArcelorMittalDofasco spokeswoman Marie Verdun said the incident at the plant lasted less than one minute and was caused by a "bleeder pop" in one the plant's blast furnaces that makes liquid iron, part of the process of making liquid steel.
"Bleeder pops are common to all furnaces and happen when a safety valve is released because pressure in the furnace is too high. When the valve is released, there is an emission of fine particulate which is often very dark," Verdun said in an email to CBC Hamilton.
Verdun said the particulate produced from the "bleeder pop" is most likely a coal-based particulate.
She said the particulate released by this type of incident is usually so dense and heavy that it stays close to, or on, company property.
ArcelorMittalDofasco notified Ontario's Ministry of Environment that an incident had taken place.
The incident is the latest in a series of emission issues that have dogged the company in recent years. The steel company was fined $390,000 in 2014 after pleading guilty to six environmental charges related to emissions of black smoke from its smokestacks. It's also asking the Ontario Ministry of Environment for an extension to the special standards that allow it to operate without meeting stricter provincial emission targets while it makes millions worth of upgrades.
The company is currently meeting site-specific standards, governing sulfur levels and total suspended particulates, that were developed with the province for the interim period.
Environmental testing to take weeks
The Ministry of Environment sent senior environmental officer Stephen Burt, who arrived at the scene around 3 p.m., to collect samples and speak with residents about what happened.
Burt said he couldn't speculate on what the black matter was. He said lab tests — which take between two weeks to a month to complete — would be needed to say for sure what the grit is.
Burt told Manger as well as neighbour Debbie Lapointe that if they felt ill at all they should go to hospital.
Lapointe said she was mostly concerned with Manger's health, as he had been outside when the particles fell.
Verdun said the company's environmental department is conducting a review of what happened and conducting a "root cause analysis." She indicated the company would await the results of ministry tests to see if the fallout that occurred in the neighbourhood today was connected to the company's particulate release.
Manger, who had called the Ministry in to investigate two similar events in the past year, said he believes, based on past tests, that the soot may be some mix of carbon and coke.
Lapointe, who has lived in the area since 1995, said while steel plant soot descending on the neighbourhood is nothing new, Monday's grit — which had a texture similar to ground coffee — appeared to be larger than normal.
"This is different," she said, adding it's lucky there was so much snow so officials could easily collect samples of the contamination.
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