A second incident involving a shower of dust in Falconbridge last week did not come from the smelter, both Glencore Integrated Nickel Operations and Public Health Sudbury & District have told Sudbury.com.
On Oct. 30, residents of Falconbridge again complained to Glencore and the health unit that there was evidence of "dust" on their vehicles and properties that appeared similar to the incident that occurred in that community overnight on Sept. 23 - 24, when a substance was emitted from the smelter and dispersed over the community.
That previous incident caused significant concern since the material presented itself as a dark substance that landed on vehicles, patio furniture, home siding, house windows, car windows and backyard gardens, among other things.
In the past few days both Glencore and the health unit have issued statements about the most recent occurrence.
Yonaniko (Iyo) Grenon, the senior communications specialist at Glencore INO said Thursday that operations at the smelter were curtailed "out of an abundance of caution".
Operations at the smelter were back up and running the next day. Grenon said emissions monitoring was functioning accurately on the Thursday when citizens began reporting dust occurrences.
"None of our monitoring systems have registered any dusting, gas or emissions exceedances since the September dust incident," she said in a company statement.
Similarly, the health unit issued a statement late Friday saying analysis of the dust from the Oct. 30 incident indicate the material did not come from an industrial release, and it is possible the dust could be leftover residue from a previous incident.
"Public Health has received preliminary testing results conducted by Glencore. The results indicate that this was unlikely an industrial release. The test results are more consistent with trace residual dust from the previous industrial release on September 23, 2025, in addition to other particulate matter," said the PHSD release.
After the late September industrial release, Glencore sent workers into the community, collecting samples of the spattered material and eventually discovered the substance was comprised of oxides of several other metals that had indeed come out of the smelter stack during a maintenance operation. Most of the material consisted mainly of particles of iron, followed by particles of silica, nickel, sulphur, copper, magnesium and cobalt, the company said.
At a subsequent community meeting held in Falconbridge in mid-October, the company apologized to the community and pledged to do better in terms of communications if another incident occurred.
In the most recent incident that was reported on Oct. 30, Glencore and PHSD were quick to advise the community that they had taken calls and reports of another suspected dust incident and that action was being taken to find out what the material was and how it would affect anyone. Glencore sent workers door-to-door to drop off notices as well as setting up a community information telephone line and an email address.
In addition, the health unit said that any "health impacts are likely to be minimal."
More detailed information from the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks are expected sometime later this week and the health unit will be able to comment more definitively, said the release.
On Monday, communications specialist Grenon advised by email:
“Briefly, from our part, the investigation is continuing. We will provide an update as soon as it becomes available.”
Len Gillis covers mining and health care for Sudbury.com.