Sudbury's Glencore Integrated Nickel Operations (INO) said the most recent dust incident in the community of Falconbridge was minimal in volume and not above any dust or gas emission exceedences since the September 24 incident in that community.
It was on Thursday Oct.30 that some residents of the community next to Glencore's smelter reported that dust was found on their vehicles and other parts of their properties.
People who were affected notified Glencore INO, which in turn notified the Sudbury health unit and the Ministry of the Environment, Parks and Conservation on Thursday.
The company also notified the public through social media Thursday afternoon.
Glencore INO senior communications specialist Yonaniko (Iyo) Grenon provided an updated statement on Friday.
"Following recent dust concerns reported in Falconbridge, we have conducted a preliminary investigation. Our smelter was operating normally at the time the dust was reported, however, out of an abundance of caution we curtailed operations," said the statement.
"Continuous monitoring of our emissions remained below allowable limits. Emissions monitoring instruments were functioning accurately. None of our monitoring systems have registered any dusting, gas or emissions exceedences since the September dust incident," said the statement.
The September 24 incident was when many residents of Falconbridge discovered that a smelter substance had been dispersed into the sky over the community and was spattered onto many vehicles, homes, backyard gardens, patios and lawn furniture. It resulted in both the company and Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) to issuing cautionary statements to the public.
Further to the statement issued Friday, the company said the samples of material found in the past several hours show materials at levels that are not typical of the materials processed in the smelter.
"We have also completed preliminary sampling around the community. Some samples contained elements similar to the smelter dust event from September, however all samples were predominantly composed of silica and alumina at levels not typical of the material processed in our smelter operations. We can confirm the volume of dust reported in the community is minimal," said Glencore.
"We are taking this development very seriously and our investigation is ongoing. We have shared these results and our analysis with the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) and with Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD).
"We remain committed to operating responsibly and transparently. Although it has not been established whether Glencore’s operations resulted in the dust that has been seen, our Community Line at 705 693 2761 (Ext 3989) remains open to support residents with any questions or concerns. Alternatively, residents can contact [email protected]" said the company statement.