ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, ENVIRONMENT HAMILTON

Toronto | Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – Environmental groups applaud Hamilton’s Board of Health in passing a motion calling on the province to reject ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s recent request to renew its Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA) and instead strengthen the tracking of harmful emissions from Hamilton’s biggest polluter, ArcelorMittal Dofasco. This decisive motion will put much needed pressure on Canada’s largest steel mill to transition off of coal and end decades of unacceptable pollution in Hamilton.

ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s Environmental Compliance Approval currently exempts it from Ontario’s health-based air quality standards. The motion responds to years of calls for the Ontario government to end these exemptions and address local air quality, which has some of the highest levels of cancer-causing pollutants in the province.

Hamilton residents supported by environmental groups are now urging the province to enact these measures to end decades of unacceptable pollution in Hamilton and ensure the industry modernizes so steel jobs remain in Canada’s steel town.

Michael Adamson, Clean Steel Program Manager, Environmental Defence:

“Today’s Board of Health motion sends a clear message to the Ontario government and to Dofasco that it’s time to deliver on clean steel in Hamilton. After almost four years, and nearly $1 billion in promised public funding, it is clear that regulatory action is needed to bring coal-free steel to Hamilton. The province has that authority and today’s motion is demanding they begin using it.

The province has exempted Dofasco from provincial air quality standards for years. The measures in the motion would work to reverse that and demonstrate that meeting regulatory requirements from here on out will require phasing out coal.”

Evan Ubene, Clean Steel Campaign Coordinator, Environment Hamilton:

“The Board of Health decision today shows that Hamilton residents who are tired of coal being burned in their backyards have the support of the City’s public health representatives. Now, it’s time for the province to ensure ArcelorMittal Dofasco meets provincial air quality standards by phasing out coal and for the federal government to put guarantees in place for workers so that the transition to clean steel benefits everyone. Hamilton residents should not have to choose between clean air and good jobs. We deserve both.”

Background:

  • In January 2026, ArcelorMittal Dofasco requested the Ontario government to renew its Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA) to reinstate limited operational flexibility conditions which expired in 2023. These conditions allow the company to make facility changes without requiring a new ECA or public consultation.
  • The recent Board of Health motion calls on the province to reject this request and instead require ArcelorMittal Dofasco to set up a real-time air quality monitoring system for key pollutants and disclose facility investments relevant to local air pollution.
  • In 2023, Hamilton City Council passed a motion asking the province to end ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s site specific standards, which granted the company pollution limits well beyond Ontario’s general air quality standards. The province did not renew these special standards, but folded into the company’s Environmental Compliance Approval.
  • ArcelorMittal Dofasco is Ontario’s single largest source of industrial greenhouse gas emissions, releasing 4.16 megatonnes of carbon pollution in 2023. It is also Hamilton’s largest source of industrial pollution, releasing known carcinogens — benzene and benzo[a]pyrene — at levels far exceeding provincial guidelines.
  • In 2022, ArcelorMittal Dofasco committed to phase out their coal-based steelmaking facilities and replace them with a Direct Reduction Iron (DRI) furnace as well as a new Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF). However, no visible construction activities have begun since, and the company has refused to update the public on its decarbonization plans.

ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

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For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

Tamara Latinovic, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca