The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting ranks fifth in a new report of Canada's top air polluters from 2003. The report, released by the environmental watchdog PollutionWatch, states that HBMS released of 168,783,694 kilograms of combined air pollutants that year. "Communities really should know what facilities are releasing in their neighbourhoods," said PollutionWatch spokesperson Jennifer Foulds. The Toronto-based organization compiled its list of "Dirty Dozen" polluters with industrial information reported to the federal government's National Pollutant Release Inventory. HBMS, owned by HudBay Minerals Inc. of Winnipeg, is listed fifth with sulphur dioxide and particulates as the main pollutants. Inco Ltd., whose operations include a mine and nickel smelter in Thompson, sits atop the rankings with over 368 million kilograms of combined air releases. Again, the main pollutants were sulphur dioxide and particulates. Companies in Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia rounded out the top five. Foulds said she hopes the report will help lead to "a more targeted approach" that will reduce pollution across the country at a more expeditious pace. She cautioned against alarm from residents living near the listed companies. "The one thing to remember with this pollution and with this data is that just because a facility is polluting the air in your community doesn't mean we can make a direct link to health affects," she said. Foulds added that areas of the same community are affected in differently, depending on the wind. See 'Within' P.# Con't from P.# Despite its ranking, HBMS is well within government emission limits, said Alan Hair, vice-president, Metallurgy Safety Health and Environment. Hair said HBMS takes pollution seriously, referencing multimillion-dollar investments in environment-related improvements since 1991. "We are always looking at ways to reduce all of the impacts of our operations on the environment," he said. Specific HBMS measures include the company's Smelter Gas Handling Project, implemented in 2000, which has reduced fugitive emissions by over 90 per cent. HBMS also became one of the first mining companies to voluntarily comply with the International Standards Organization's extensive 14001 Environmental Management System. And further advancements are forthcoming, as Ottawa will require HBMS to devise a pollution prevention plan, targets of which will be released by March. As well, Hair noted that the company has now obtained the necessarily environmental approvals and expects to proceed with expansion and enhancement its tailings facility in 2006. Hair said this work "should eliminate any future dusting incidents," referring to episodes of dried tailings dust being blown into nearby Creighton. The new air report comes almost a year after PollutionWatch ranked the HBMS metallurgical complex as the third-biggest air polluter in Canada in 2002. HBMS released 178.1 million kilograms of pollution into the air that year, according to the group's report.
