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.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Government monitoring of sulphur dioxide in Flin Flon's air ended earlier this year following months of post-smelter levels that were very low or indistinguishable. A Manitoba Conservation air quality report, obtained by The Reminder, shows the long-running SO2 program quietly ceased toward the end of January. At that time, levels of SO2 at the three monitoring sites furthest from the HBMS plant Ð the Aqua Centre, Hapnot Collegiate and Creighton Ð "remained very low or at undetectable concentrations," the report states. "Some low levels of SO2 continued to be recorded in the 'uptown' area," the report notes, "though at levels much below" provincial air quality standards "and on infrequent occasions." The report, which summarizes data for the first three months of 2011, says the highest SO2 concentrations were recorded at the Barrow Provincial Building and HBMS Staffhouse monitoring sites not far from the plant. But those levels, around 0.04 parts per million, were nearly nine times lower than Manitoba's maximum allowable limit of 0.34 ppm. HBMS, the report states, said these levels likely arose from its back-up heavy fuel oil boiler, which involves sulphur. One back-up boiler has been converted to clean-burning propane; the other was set to be decommissioned this summer. Below standards Monitoring of particulate matter, or fine "dust," also continued in the first quarter of the year. Levels were below provincial maximums at all monitoring sites except for the Barrow building on Feb. 11 and at that same site and in Creighton on March 28. The report blames the elevated levels not on HBMS, but on dust from roads and smoke from homes that burn wood for heat. Meanwhile, monitoring for heavy metals showed levels at all sites within provincial standards. The highest lead level, recorded at the Barrow building, was just 25 per cent of the maximum allowed. The highest arsenic level, recorded at the same building, was 20 per cent of the maximum. "HBM&S permanently shut down its copper smelter in June 2010 resulting in significantly reduced emissions and the near elimination of sulphur dioxide releases," the report states.
