December 03, 2008

Algoma urged to install bag houses in BF 6

The Sault star reported that Mr Tony Martin has urged the provincial government to withhold a mandatory operational permit for a second Algoma Steel Inc blast furnace until environmental concerns are addressed.

Ms Marie NDP MP in an open letter to Mr John Gerretsen minister of the environment of Ontario as saying that "I am requesting that Algoma Steel be not be allowed to start up blast furnace No 6 without a baghouse and that you insist on an expedited completion of the baghouse for No 7 blast furnace, prior to the issuance of a certificate of approval states the Sault Ste.

Algoma had previously announced it would install baghouse technology into No 6 in 2009 and the same state of the art emission cleaning system into No 7 this year. Baghouses capture 98% to 99% of furnace emissions essentially vacuuming out particle emissions.

Algoma's business plan calls for a near doubling of steel production, from 2.5 million to 4.5 million tonnes in the next few years and a significant contributor to achieving the target will be firing up a second operational blast furnace, No 6. No 6, idle for more than a dozen years, since performing six month backup duty in mid 1995, has the capacity to contribute 1 million tonnes of liquid iron annually, about half the proposed production boost.