New chemical spill into river reported at Algoma Steel

A new chemical spill into the St. Marys River from Algoma Steel was under investigation by the Ministry of the Environment earlier this week, less than one month after SooToday reported there had been seven significant spills at the plant in the past five years.

A "cloudy plume" was observed at the discharge point on Tuesday, said Laura Devoni, Algoma Steel's director of Corporate Affairs.

"During the normal course of operations at Algoma Steel, water is treated with carbon dioxide and subsequently released to the St. Marys River from an onsite basin," Devoni wrote in an emailed response.

"The discharge was immediately curtailed, and upstream operations were examined and confirmed to be operating at normal conditions," she said. "Although the treated discharge was within normal operating parameters, the observed colour change prompted us to immediately stop the discharge and contact regulators."

She added: "We confirmed our operations are running normally, and the aberration in discharge has since ceased. We continue to monitor the discharge point. We don’t expect any impacts to the waterway."

Devoni did not answer a question about environmental impacts or whether any fish were killed as a result of the spill, but the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) confirmed in an email today that some fish were killed.

"Algoma Steel reported a small fish kill," said Lindsay Davidson, spokesperson for the ministry. "Less than seven fish were impacted, five of which recovered when placed in clean water. The other two fish died."

The MECP offered additional details about the spill that were not shared by Algoma Steel.

"The spilled substance is believed to be excess lime from the steel making process due to an unknown process upset," said Davidson. "The spill was contained in the lagoon by shutting down the discharge as much as possible and installing a silt curtain to help retain any solids."

Davidson said ministry staff were onsite and collected water and fish samples.

"At that time, the discharge was still restricted and had returned to a normal colour. Downstream shorelines were searched, and no dead fish or other impacts were observed," he said. "Ministry staff will assess the impact of the spill once sample results are available."

A follow-up search on Thursday by the ministry found no signs of dead fish, said Davidson.

Neither Algoma Steel or the MECP would say how much of the substance entered the St. Marys River.

After its June 11 story regarding seven significant spills from Algoma Steel in the past five years, SooToday reached out to the mayor, the city's head of emergency preparedness and head of tourism for comment about the story. Of the three, only Mayor Matthew Shoemaker replied.

"The protection of our environment and natural resources are key goals of the City of Sault Ste. Marie. Anything that makes those goals more difficult to achieve is concerning," he wrote in an emailed statement on June 11. "The City doesn't have oversight over the operations of industrial facilities or the cleanup of spills. I do remain in regular contact with Algoma Steel's senior management and will continue to do so moving forward."

When asked a follow-up question about what effect chemical spills in the St. Marys River could have on the city's plans to unlock the waterfront for tourism purposes, the mayor offered a no comment.

Travis Anderson, the city's director of Tourism and Community Development, and Lauren Perry, Emergency Management coordinator, did not respond to a request for comment after the June 11 story.

SooToday also reached out to Algoma University, seeking comment from Lisa Derickx, coordinator of the St. Marys River Remedial Action Plan. The plan's objective is to support restoration actions and the environmental monitoring and assessment studies in the St. Marys River area of concern.

Algoma U communications manager Mohamed El Kahlout responded, "unfortunately, we will have to politely decline this request."

Coincidentally, just over a week after SooToday received that no comment, Algoma Steel's chief financial officer Rajat Marwah was named as a new member of the Algoma University Board of Governors.