Aamjiwnaang demands government action on elevated benzene emissions - Sarnia News Today

Aamjiwnaang First Nation is calling on federal, provincial, and municipal governments to immediately impose a shutdown of the INEOS Styrolution facility on Tashmoo Avenue to remediate ongoing elevated benzene emissions.

Elected Chief Chris Plain said they've been dealing with ministry officials for quite some time on this issue, trying to get it addressed, but the levels still seem to be rising.

"Yesterday, upon a lot of staff noticing that they were not feeling well, including some community members, people took to the CASA [Clean Air Sarnia and Area] public website to look at the benzene levels in this area and they were as high as 115, and there was readings in the 70s and 80s, and other monitors in the valley were average which was obviously very, very, low compared to what these readings were," said Plain.

Chief Plain said officials have been regularly monitoring the area since Easter, and were onsite testing on Tuesday but there was no self-reported leak or identified concern from the ministry communicated to the First Nation.

"Of course we drew concern and the workers expressed concern about their safety and with that we let them go home," he said. "They're not returning today, although the wind is coming out of the east, not out of the north like it was yesterday. But out of precaution, and the unknown about how far reaching the levels are, we exercised caution and asked them not to come in again today."

Chief Plain said they were waiting for ministry officials to come and provide additional testing within the community, instead of the company perimeter, to see how far reaching it may have gone.

"Due to the winds today, we may not know what that looks like, but obviously, whatever is leaking from that industry probably hasn't been fixed," he said. "So, we're going to keep at it until we get some proper answers to our questions and the situation is addressed over there."

Chief Plain said he shared his displeasure of the Ministry of Conservation, Environment and Parks (MECP) for not responding to requests for emergency meetings, with the Minister of Indigenous Affairs Wednesday morning. He said Greg Rickford committed to a follow up meeting with band council Wednesday afternoon.

"We've been fed up for a long time and we've tried to address this, but it's got to the escalating point where we're not receiving any answers, we're not receiving any help. We've got some ministry attention now, but it's very concerning to our community members, but equally it should be concerning to the people in Queens Park who are responsible for this, to address this, because it doesn't seem to be concerning to the people who are emitting this, which is INEOS."

The company provided a statement to Sarnia News Today late Wednesday afternoon.

"At INEOS Styrolution, ensuring the health and safety of our community is paramount," read the statement. "We uphold stringent environmental and safety protocols to meet all regulated standards set by the MECP. Our dedication to these standards underscores our unwavering commitment to safeguarding our environment and the people within it.

We understand the concerns raised by our neighbours, including the Aamjiwnaang First Nation community, regarding benzene readings from a local station. We are carefully reviewing this data and any concerns. The site works closely with the MECP to ensure we stay within the prescribed emissions limits.

We value the importance of maintaining an open dialogue with regulators and our community, and we are committed to ongoing discussions and collaborating on initiatives for the greater good of our community."