Aamjiwnaang First Nation declared a local state of emergency Thursday for the community near Sarnia due to “ongoing and excessive” discharges of benzene from a nearby chemical plant.
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“While declaring a local state of emergency is a serious measure, Aamjiwnaang is doing so in order to assist in our preparedness and ensure we have adequate resources at our disposal in the event that further action is required,” Chief Chris Plain and the band council said in a statement.
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The First Nation also issued a notice warning its residents to stay away from the band office, playground and ballpark. “There are high benzene readings for this area,” he said.
INEOS Styrolution, a plant on Tashmoo Avenue next to the First Nation that produces styrene used to make plastics and rubber, is in the process of temporarily shutting down its facility after Aamjiwnaang officials first raised the alarm about high benzene levels on April 16. The First Nation said residents were experiencing headaches, nausea and dizziness. A monitoring station in the area showed a high benzene reading at 8 am
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The First Nation closed its offices on Tashmoo Avenue and staff have been working from home since then.
INEOS Styrolution said April 20 it was temporarily shutting down the plant “to perform maintenance and address a mechanical issue” and warned of elevated flaring this week.
The company issued a notice on the Sarnia-Lambton Alerts system Thursday afternoon “notifying the community that temporary spikes of greater than 12.5 PPB may occur as we progress through the current stages of unit shutdown.”
“Due to this impact we will be putting a hold on all onsite activities for the time being,” the company’s notice said.
The notice did not say what chemical was causing the spikes.
A natural component of petroleum, benzene is primarily used to make polystyrene. It is a known carcinogen and exposure to it may cause leukemia.
Ontario’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks worked with the First Nation last weekend to add more air monitoring stations and its most recent order to INEOS Styrolution, issued April 18, requires the company to develop a plan to “prevent, reduce and eliminate the discharge of benzene from wastewater at the facility” by April 26.
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