INEOS Styrolution said Saturday it was temporarily shutting down its Sarnia plant.
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That comes after Ontario Environment Minister Andrea Khanjin said earlier in the week she expected the company to “quickly identify and reduce” emissions at the site after Aamjiwnaang First Nation raised concerns about high benzene levels recorded near its Sarnia-area office.
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“At INEOS Styrolution, ensuring the health and safety of our employees and community is paramount,” the company said in a statement Saturday.
“We are temporarily shutting down our facility located in Sarnia. . . to perform maintenance and address a mechanical issue,” the company said. “We will resume operations once addressed.”
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said he considers the company’s decision to temporarily shut down the plant “a positive sign they’re recognized this was mishandled.”
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He added, “They need to fix the problem.”
Bradley said Saturday city officials had not heard from the company since the issue was raised by the neighboring First Nation.
“It has been very disappointing,” he said. “I thought we had moved beyond that in this community. You communicate, you communicate, you inform, and that hasn’t happened.”
The Sarnia-area is home to several refineries and chemical plants and the amount of communication between industries and the community following environmental incidents at industrial sites has been a source of tension at times.
“I’m still trying to understand why where was no alert given to the community,” Bradley said. “That’s the big issue.”
The Aamjiwnaang Notification System issued a notice Tuesday about high benzene levels but there was no notice on the Sarnia-Lambton Alerts public notification system used by local industries.
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“We had no awareness until Aamjiwnaang went public,” Bradley said.
Staff from the First Nation’s Tashmoo Avenue offices were told to work from home since Tuesday, when community members reported headaches, nausea and dizziness, as a nearby air quality monitoring station reported high benzene levels.
Benzene, a natural component of petroleum, is the simplest organic, aromatic hydrocarbon, primarily used to make polystyrene, according to britannica.com. It is highly toxic and is a known carcinogen; exposure to it may cause leukemia.
It was not immediately clear where the benzene originated.
But the First Nation called Tuesday for governments to shut down the nearby INEOS Styrolution plant on Tashmoo Avenue, which produces styrene used to make plastics and rubber, to “remediate the ongoing benzene emissions and protect all community members.”
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Khanjin spoke Wednesday with Aamjiwnaang officials and “also spoke with representatives from INEOS and made clear our government’s expectation that they quickly identify and reduce these emissions,” her office said in a statement Thursday.
“When it comes to protecting health and safety, we will not hesitate to use our regulatory tools and enforcement actions to hold emitters to account,” the statement said.
The statement also said “more needs to be done” and the ministry is working to update the benzene technical standards for petrochemical and petroleum facilities, and strengthen the Environmental Penalties Regulation so more financial penalties can be imposed.
“As part of our continued response, environmental compliance officers have been conducting site visits at INEOS, our mobile air monitoring unit has also been deployed for several days now and remains on site in Sarnia, and we continue to ensure compliance with all past orders made to INEOS, including requirements to install emissions control equipment and undertake additional air monitoring,” the ministry said.
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