A ministry-initiated amendment to Rio Tinto Alcan’s Environmental Management Act permit will alter the rules around when they need to report bypasses.
In order to safely conduct maintenance on their Kitimat smelter, pollution controls sometimes need to be bypassed for long periods of time.
Previously, employees were required to seek approval from the Regional Director of Environmental Protection prior to bypassing the controls.
This has led to a significant amount of approval requests being sent on a case-by-case basis over the years, and prompted the amendment.
Under the new rules, annual bypasses will be allowed of up to 32 hours for the West and East Gas Treatment Centres, 72 hours for the Fume Treatment Centre, 180 hours for the Pitch Incinerator, and 12 hours for their FC3 Day Tank.
Restrictions are also in place limiting individual bypasses to between 10 and 38 hours, depending on the facility.
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