For nearly three weeks, thick black smoke has been coming from the brick stack at Dofasco in Hamilton’s north end. Residents have complained to the Ministry of the Environment which has already fined the company more than $460 000 in the last four years. People who live in the area are concerned about breathing it in.

“For the neighbourhood it’s a big issue. I mean their schools, there’s playgrounds, there’s people that work and live right next-door and we have to breathe the air that comes out.” concerned resident.

Environment Hamilton’s Lynda Lukasic says it’s been like this for nearly three weeks, she launched a complaint with the Ministry of the Environment. “It’s fine particulate pollution and these are coke ovens, so we have concerns about other carcinogenic elements and that’s not good for our local air-quality.”

Nobody from the company would go on camera to talk about the thick black smoke hovering over the city but a statement was released that states “It’s being caused by restoration work and that it will continue for the next few days.” “During the course of restoration work, visible emissions can worsen, before step change improvements are seen.”

The company was fined over $162 000 for an incident in 2015 and another $400 000 for violating air quality standards in 2012. It is yet to be fined for a plume of brown smoke from last Thanksgiving.