Buildings were shuttered once again at Aamjiwnaang First Nation Monday in the wake of “high benzene levels overnight” officials said in a community notice.
Aamjiwnaang band council said elevated benzene readings were detected at the Ada Lockridge and AFN Sportscenter air monitors, prompting the closure of the band office, public works and church buildings, among others, through to Tuesday, May 7.
“We are advising that community members continue to exercise caution in avoiding the baseball diamond and playground areas,” Aamjiwnaang officials stated.
Overnight, INEOS Styrolution issued a community notification that ‘hourly benzene emissions on-site have been detected above 0.021 parts-per million,’ adding that monitoring data is being verified, and the ‘source(s) of elevated emissions are being actively investigated,’
The notice was issued through Lambton Alerts as a proactive precaution, the company said, adding that ‘INEOS Styrolution is not the only source of benzene in the area.’
“Emissions reduction efforts will be identified and implemented if there is an abnormal operating condition at the site,” the company added. “This notification is preemptive and no adverse effects are anticipated with these elevated readings.”
Last week Ontario’s environment ministry suspended the Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA) for INEOS, citing benzene readings that “continue to be above acceptable levels.”
Aamjiwnaang remains under a state of emergency due to the “ongoing and excessive discharge of the chemical compound benzene from INEOS Styrolution’s facility,” Chief Chris Plain and council announced April 25.
The company, however, maintains it did not breach its emissions limit for benzene, and calls the government-issued compliance timelines ‘unrealistic.’
“Our engineers and technical teams have raised significant concerns about safety and elevated emissions if the Ministry insists on the ill-informed timelines contained in its May 1, 2024, order,” INEOS stated.
“INEOS Styrolution has also raised concern about the impact of the order on the local and national economy. The Sarnia plant is now closed, the flow of all products into and out of the site is currently stopped and the plant cannot be restarted until the requirements set forth in the May 1, 2024, order is satisfied. This will likely impact the refineries that produce most of Eastern Canada’s gasoline.”
INEOS says it’s considering appealing the order from the Ministry, “to enable us to safely and effectively, implement newly designed equipment systems on site, to meet the new emission standards, address the concerns of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation and to continue to serve the wider economic needs of Canada.”
Meanwhile, the Sarnia Area Disaster Simulation (SADS), a mutual-aid exercise held annually and previously scheduled for this week at NOVA Chemicals St. Clair River site, has been rescheduled, officials said, ‘in consideration of current events in the Sarnia-Lambton region.’
The announcement comes following NOVA’s decision to postpone the grand opening of its Rokeby site ‘out of respect for local residents and Aamjiwnaang First Nation.’
The SADS exercise is rescheduled to take place in October.