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Sudbury

Recent Environmental Initiatives

Sulphur Dioxide Emissions Reduction

In the Sudbury area, INCO Ltd. and Falconbridge Ltd. emit sulphur dioxide (or SO₂) as a byproduct of their smelting functions. The companies' sulphur dioxide emissions are regulated under orders issued by the Ministry of the Environment.

The first order was issued in 1978 and then revised in 1983. The ministry will release new draft orders in September, 2001 that will require the companies, among other things, to meet a new limit for average hourly SO₂ concentrations at ground level and to reduce total annual emissions of sulphur dioxide.

Sudbury Sampling Program

The Ministry of the Environment has been sampling in the Sudbury area periodically since 1971. The ministry's current sampling program uses a systematic approach to sampling that includes taking samples from priority land-use areas, such as public parks or green spaces, schools, daycares and residential areas.

The Ministry of the Environment announced on September 12, 2001 that it is undertaking further sampling of soils, garden vegetables and berries in the Greater Sudbury area. The Ministry of the Environment and Sudbury's Medical Officer of Health are also requiring Sudbury's smelting companies, INCO and Falconbridge, to conduct a human health risk assessment using the results of the new sampling.

Related Documents:

• Backgrounder: Sudbury Soils Study (June 2003)
• 4141e Fact Sheet: Copper in the environment [PDF] [HTML Format] (September 17, 2001)
• Fact Sheet: Metals in Soil and Vegetation in the Sudbury Area (September 12, 2001)
• Media Backgrounder: Sulphur Dioxide Emission Reductions - INCO and Falconbridge ordered to reduce total emissions and ground level concentrations (September 6, 2001)
• Notice of Public Information Centre (September 6, 2001)

Reports

• Metals in Soil and Vegetation in the Sudbury Area (Survey 2000 and Additional Historic Data) September 2001
• Air Quality Assessments in Sudbury, Volume 2, Effects of Sulphur Dioxide and Heavy Metals on Vegetation and Soils, 1970 - 1977
• Deloro Village Exposure Assessment and Health Risk Characterization for Arsenic and Other Metals, Final Report, December 1999, Cantox Environmental
• The Deloro Village Environmental Health Risk Study - Summary Report  (in .pdf format 868K/29 pages)
• CCME, Canadian Soil Quality Guidelines for Copper: Environmental and Human Health
• Early Roasting and Smelting Operations in the Sudbury Area - An Historical Outline, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Experience '79 Program
• Effects of Sulphur Dioxide and Heavy Metals on Vegetation in the Sudbury Area, 1974
• Environmental degradation and rehabilitation of the landscape around Sudbury, a major mining and smelting area, Keith Winterhalder
• Exposure Assessment, Placer Dome, Balmerton, Ontario, Canada, prepared by Gradient Corporation, May 1995
• Field Investigation Manual, Part 1, General Methodology, May 1993
• Land Reclamation Program 1978 - 1984, Regional Municipality of Sudbury, April 15, 1985
• Marginal Chlorosis of White Birch in the Sudbury Area, 1978 - 1983, Progress Report No. 1, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, November 1984
• Nickel in the terrestrial environment (1994)
• Ontario Typical Range of Chemical Parameters in Soil, Vegetation, Moss Bags and Snow, Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy, December 1993
• Phytotoxicology Survey Report, Environmental Studies at Former Roast Yards in the Sudbury Area (1998), Ontario Ministry of the Environment, November 1999
• Studies of the Terrestrial Environment in the Sudbury Area 1978 - 1987, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, March 1990
• Survey of Arsenic Exposure for Residents of Wawa, Goss Gilroy Inc., January 2001
• Assessments of Potential Health Risks of Backyard Vegetable Consumption in the Gatchell Area, Sudbury, Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy, November 1994

Other Links

• The Guideline for Use at Contaminated Sites in Ontario
  (revised February 1997) The guideline provides advice and information to owners and consultants to use when assessing the environmental condition of a site, when determining whether or not restoration is required, and in determining the kind of restoration needed to allow continued use or reuse of the site.

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