Bye bye Sudbury bye bye....so near the decision day Noront does not want to see this type of opposition?

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http://www.thesudburystar.com/2018/06/25/no-ferrochrome-sudbury-plans-protest

Mayor Brian Bigger visited the Outokumpu ferrochrome production facility in Tornio, Finland with Ward 6 Coun. Rene Lapierre, Chief Ted Roque of the Wahnapitae First Nation, as well as several city hall staffers

A group opposed to a $1-billion ferrochrome plant in Sudbury that could create as many at 1,000 direct and indirect jobs is planning a protest for Tuesday.

Members of No Ferrochrome Sudbury said in a release they will hold an information protest at the boat launch on the Wahnapitae River, across the street from the Wahnapitae Community Centre on Glenbower Crescent near Highway 17.

The protest will begin at 10 a.m.

“The event is to raise awareness about the potential for hexavalent chromium to contaminate the City of Greater Sudbury’s water treatment facility on the Wahnapitae River,” No Ferrochrome Sudbury said. “This treatment facility provides drinking water to 60 per cent of the city’s population, including New Sudbury, Garson, Coniston and Wahnapitae.”

The protest comes as Noront Resources is considering which of four Northern Ontario communities to locate its plant, which would process chromite ore from the Ring of Fire in northwestern Ontario.

Noront wants to build a ferrochrome smelter to process material from the Ring of Fire. Sudbury, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay are all in the running for the smelter, which would create up to 350 direct and indirect jobs. The company is expected to make a decision later this year.

If Sudbury is selected, the plant would be located on a former Vale site in Coniston.

A city delegation to a ferrochrome production facility in Tornio, Finland, concluded such a plant in Sudbury would be safe for workers and the environment.

Mining columnist Stan Sudol, who manages the Republic of Mining website (republicofmining.com) and works as a communications consultant for the mining industry, has praised the project, and has argued Sudbury would be the ideal location for it.

“The ferrochrome facility would cost about $1 billion and take three years to build,” he told The Star earlier this year. “The plant would provide approximately 1,200 jobs during construction and about 350 full-time jobs for operation,” Sudol said. “And don’t forget those 350 direct jobs would probably result in an additional 500 to 700 service support jobs in the community’s world-class mining supply and service sector.”

A ferrochrome smelter ultimately prepares and transforms chromite ore deposits into ferrochrome, the product used to create stainless steel products.

Ferrochrome is created with iron, chrome and oxygen. The high-grade chromite ore taken from the Ring of Fire area is ground and put through an arc furnace that requires high levels of energy to melt the ore and add carbon to separate the oxygen from the iron and chrome. The completed iron and chrome product is called ferrochrome.

The ferrochrome would be exported to industrial regions in the northeast United States, such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, to make stainless steel. Currently, companies get their ferrochrome from Africa and Asia.

However, No Ferrochrome Sudbury said hexavalent chromium is carcinogenic and fears ferrochrome smelting would contaminate the city’s water treatment facility on the Wahnapitae River.

“Health Canada recommends that where short-term exceedances of their guideline values for hexavalent chromium are experienced, drinking water providers should develop a plan for treatment,”  No Ferrochrome Sudbury said. “However, where exceedances are systemic, Health Canada recommends abandoning a water treatment facility. It may cost the city as much as $250 million to replace this facility should it become contaminated by hexavalent chromium.

“Given the proximity of the Wahnapitae Water Treatment Plant and its water intake, just 4km downwind of the proposed smelter location, No Ferrochrome Sudbury is concerned that the City of Greater Sudbury has seriously failed to consider all health and economic impacts as part of its due diligence prior to selecting Coniston as the preferred location to host a new ferrochrome smelter.”