photo courtesy of View Through My Lens
Jeff Arbus, a local organizer of a citizens’ committee on air quality in the Sault sent the following message after attending tonight’s Algoma Steel open house on their efforts to address their (negative) environmental impact:
Tonight’s open house on Air Quality, hosted by Algoma Steel, was in Bayview. About 50 people came through, which I think was a decent, but not overwhelming turnout.
There is another open house tomorrow night (Wednesday) from 4 – 8 p.m. at the Great Northern Resort and Conference Centre (formerly Best Western) on Great Northern Road.
I urge you to attend, even if only for a few minutes. Bring a friend. It is a “come and go” and not a formal meeting. Representatives from ASI are there to answer questions and explain their display material, also a rep. from the Ministry of the Environment. If you can go, and even better if you can bring family members or a friend, be sure to sign the attendance roster so that there is a record of the number of people who attend.
This is having an impact on ASI. The company is responding responsibly and while that is a good thing, there is more to do. The voice of the community needs to continue to be raised. The message is to encourage ASI in continuing to implement measures to lower air emissions, and to maintain the controls they are implementing, even while they expand production. There is every reason to believe that this can be done.
I echo Jeff’s comments – it is well worth the time to learn first-hand what ASI is doing.
A few rocks and trees groupies were there, including Frank McGillivray, Carol Martin and myself. I finally got to meet David Trowbridge, a recognized local expert on air quality. David wrote several studies on air quality in the Sault and is the scientist behind the air quality monitoring station at Sault College.
Networking with other people passionate about the environment was the main highlight for me. We discussed the need for different groups to work more together. This is the direction we greenies need to move in. That’s why I started rocks and trees as well as this web site. That work is starting to bear fruit.
The other takeaway for me is that Algoma Steel has people working on environmental issues who really do care about doing the right thing. Frank and I chatted with a guy named Jerry who has been with Algoma Steel for over 20 years. He was thoughtful, open, informative – an excellent ambassador for the company.
I also spoke with Brenda Stenta, their communications person who is interested in having a follow-up conversation on how to work together to educate and engage the public on ASI’s environmental issues.
My sense is Algoma Steel is now taking some important steps to reduce emissions, and it was helpful to see that up close. I’m no expert, though, so I look forward to learning more from people like David in the coming weeks. There is much more to be done, and we citizens of Sault Ste. Marie have an important role to play. Look for some big announcements on this blog in the coming months.
