Materials maker Ineos Styrolution has responded to claims surrounding the safety of its feedstocks plant in Sarnia, Ontario, saying that the firm is being targeted by the Canadian government.
Ineos officials clarified that the plant doesn't make benzene, which is a by-product of gasoline production. The site converts benzene from local refineries into styrene monomer, a feedstock used to make polystyrene and other materials.
"The site's integration into the Sarnia industrial complex exemplifies long-term cooperative manufacturing," officials said.
Ineos temporarily closed the plant in April. Officials said the closing was for a maintenance issue, but the move followed reports of health issues among area residents. An April 20 report on the website of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said that the closure followed complaints from a nearby First Nation community whose members said they had become ill from the plant's emissions.
According to the CBC report, the nearby Aamjiwnaang First Nation has asked local government to close the plant after members who live in the area complained of health issues. The report added that test data indicated high levels of benzene in the air. A June 3 CBC report said Ineos had been ordered to remove benzene from the site, but a company spokesman said the firm needed more time to do so.
In a June 6 statement, Ineos said that the Sarnia site "has consistently operated" within regulatory limits set by the Petrochemical Industry Standard (PCIS) of Ontario's Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) and that since 2019, additional measures have been introduced at the site that go beyond the PCIS for benzene. "On each occasion, [Ineos] has worked cooperatively with the MECP to comply with the limits specified in Provincial Officer's Orders," the company said.
"It is concerning to see misleading and false statements about our site being non-compliant," Ineos Styrolution spokesman Brian Lucas said in the June 6 statement. "The people who work for our Sarnia site, live in the community with their children and families."
"This is not just some faceless entity," he added. "These are real people who care about the community in which they live."
Ineos noted that three new government limits on benzene emission limits, established since April 18 without prior notice, decreased benzene emission limits by 90 percent. These regulations "apply solely to Ineos," officials said.
"Despite our history of compliance, confirmation that our monitors recorded no emissions outside our previously prescribed limits and being shut down since April 2024, we continue to receive new orders and notifications about emissions at our idle plant," the company said.
According to Ineos, the firm recently invested $50 million to maintain and modernize the Sarnia plant and further reduce emissions below MECP limits in place at the time. Officials said throughout this process, Ineos has collaborated with MECP, which understood and approved the firm's plans and timetable.
"However, since April 2024, new limits … have been imposed retrospectively, without prior notice, consultation, justification or adequate implementation time," they added. "These sudden regulatory changes are concerning and without due process … [and] these latest orders require our site to conduct non-routine transfers and cleanings that will force us to exceed these newly established limits.
"We are very concerned by the ongoing issuance of duplicate and conflicting orders from various branches of the MECP and the ECCC, which demand unsafe timelines that would contribute to higher emissions," officials said. "We will not jeopardize the safety of our employees, neighbors and community.
"It is unconscionable for the MECP and ECCC to demand compliance with unsafe timelines and, essentially, the forced breaching of their own newly imposed regulations on our company. Despite our history of compliance, our company is being relentlessly targeted by Canadian government agencies."
Lucas said that Ineos "supports responsible emission reductions with due process. … While the site is idle and diligently working on their current orders, we cannot reason why the MECP and ECCC continues to pile on new and conflicting orders with unsafe and infeasible timelines."
Officials added that Ineos "will always prioritize safety over speed" and that the site will remain closed until the firm can ensure compliance with the reduced limits.
Benzene, used to make styrene monomer, is listed as a toxic substance in Canada and as a known carcinogen in the U.S.
Ineos Styrolution is a major global supplier of styrenic materials, including polystyrene and ABS. The Frankfurt-based firm employs more than 3,000 and has annual sales of around $7 billion.