Guilbeault is looking for ways to end benzene exposure from Sarnia’s styrene plant

OTTAWA – Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is looking for options to protect a First Nation in southern Ontario from repeated exposure to benzene from a nearby chemical plant, as the plant issues a new warning about air pollution.

Aamjiwnaang First Nation leaders and international environmentalists wrote to Guilbeault on Thursday asking him to take immediate steps to ensure the Ineos Styrolution plant in Sarnia remains closed until the First Nation deems it safe to reopen.

The plant was closed on April 20, two days after a provincial compliance order required Ineos to take steps to resolve the benzene pollution problem.

In an interview, Guilbeault said he met with First Nation leaders in Ottawa on Wednesday and wants to help.

“I am concerned that this is the fourth order that the province of Ontario has issued where the problem does not appear to be resolving itself, or the company does not appear to be taking the necessary action,” he said.

“So I’ve asked the department to see if we can do anything federally about this? And I haven’t gotten an answer back yet.’

The conversation took place on the sidelines of international plastics treaty talks in Ottawa, where global negotiators are looking for a way to end plastic pollution and limit the toxic chemicals used to make it.

A spokeswoman for Environment and Climate Change Canada later said the plant is primarily under provincial jurisdiction, although it is subject to federal regulations that require emergency plans for 249 hazardous substances, including benzene.

The ministry conducted an inspection of the facility in response to these regulations.

It also says new regulations are being drawn up to “address a large proportion of Ineos’ uncontrolled benzene emissions.”

The spokeswoman said these rules will apply to Ineos on an accelerated basis, but are unlikely to come into force until 2026.

The Ineos factory makes styrene for use in making plastics, including Styrofoam containers and trays and foam packaging pellets. Styrene is made from benzene, a petrochemical extracted mainly from crude oil.

The plant has a long history of exceeding provincial limits for benzene pollution, a known carcinogen.

Regular air quality monitoring reported by the First Nation shows benzene levels are more than 100 times higher than levels recorded in Toronto or Ottawa.

This month, extremely high levels of benzene were again detected in the surrounding air, and many Aamijwnaang residents complained of headaches and extreme dizziness. Some ended up in hospital.

The First Nation has closed many buildings for the time being.

On April 18, the Ontario government ordered the company to take steps to fix benzene leaks. On April 20, the Frankfurt-based company said it was temporarily halting work at the plant to address “a mechanical issue.”

Sarnia News Today reported Thursday afternoon that the company had issued an emergency alert mid-afternoon for a benzene dump due to the ongoing closure.

The shutdown would last about two weeks.

Environmental groups, including Ecojustice, said in the letter to Guilbeault that the closure should last longer.

“A continued pattern of spills, lack of compliance and inadequate provincial enforcement and regulation over a period of many years indicates that a prolonged closure of the facility is necessary unless Ineos Styrolution can prove its ability and willingness to comply with health-based air quality standards and the requirements of Aamjiwnaang,” the letter said.

“Repeated high exposure to benzene places residents at increased risk of cancer and denies Aamjiwnaang First Nation their ability to exercise their inherent and constitutionally protected Aboriginal and Treaty rights.”

High levels of benzene have endangered the community, with no end in sight, says Janelle Nahmabin, an elected councilor for the First Nation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2024.

— With files from Alessia Passafiume.

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press