Can a new pipeline help the climate? ArcelorMittal Dofasco says it needs more gas to leave coal behind

If Hamilton city council agrees to build a new natural gas pipeline to ArcelorMittal Dofasco, it should also commit to reducing gas use and emissions in other parts of the city as a counter-measure, says Environment Hamilton's interim executive director Ian Borsuk. 

The comments come after representatives from ArcelorMittal Dofasco and Enbridge Gas made a recent presentation to city councillors, explaining that plans to stop using coal in the steelmaking process will require double the amount of natural gas the facility currently uses. They say a new pipeline is required to make it happen.

"We are so locked into fossil fuels that literally building out fossil-fuel infrastructure is seen as a win for the environment by a lot of people," Borsuk told CBC Hamilton. "To me, and to a lot of other environmentalists, I see it as extremely damning to the situation that we're in."

The new technology at ArcelorMittal Dofasco is expected to cut 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, in addition to several other chemicals, from the local atmosphere annually. Councillors lauded that goal, even as several noted it puts them in the position of having to approve new fossil-fuel infrastructure that could potentially be used for more than just the steel plant in the future, inadvertently increasing carbon emissions over the long term.

The International Energy Agency is among several organizations that have warned governments against investing in new fossil fuel projects if their intention is to limit warming to safe levels and meet international targets. 

"In a lot of ways, council's hands are tied because you don't want to be seen as obstructing this and perpetuating the use of coal," Borsuk said.

"That type of example is the tragedy of modern society in a lot of ways. We know there's an ongoing problem and we have the means to address it, but the economics don't support the science, and unfortunately the economics trump the science in pretty much every case. 

"If this is going to go forward, then in my mind, I think the onus is on the City of Hamilton to find ways to reduce emissions in other ways and in other sectors."

Steel plant forecasts gas use of more than a billion cubic metres annually

The gas would be used to power the plant's direct reduced iron facility, which will go online in 2026 and fully replace coal-powered steelmaking by 2028, said Tony Valeri, part of ArcelorMittal Dofasco's decarbonization investment project team. He told Hamilton council's general issues committee meeting on Feb. 1 that the plant's gas usage will rise from about 500 million cubic metres annually to more than a billion.

"The project is a first phase for our pathway to net zero," he said, noting the company has committed to net zero emissions by 2050, and is investigating numerous other emissions-reduction projects such as bio-carbon, coming from waste lumber, and hydrogen, which could eventually replace the plant's natural gas.

Enbridge's preferred route for the natural gas pipeline would start south of Rymal Road, near Upper Centennial Parkway, north to Barton Street, and west to Kenilworth Street, where it would enter the steel plant's property. 

Its second choice route would start in Flamborough, go down the escarpment to York Boulevard, and through downtown Hamilton to the plant; while the third option would see the pipeline run through King's Forest golf course and a wetland on its way to the plant, said Murray Costello, Enbridge Gas' director of southeast region operations. 

"There would be a portion of [King's Forest] which would have to be excavated," he told councillors at the meeting.

The company's preferred route along Centennial Parkway would see the pipeline built alongside city roadways, said Costello. 

Costello shared the following construction timeline proposal with councillors:

• Fall 2023: Ontario Energy Board (OEB) application for the project;
• Aug. 2024: OEB decision projected;
• Spring 2025: Construction starts; and 
• End of 2025: Pipeline in service. 

He also noted that Enbridge is conducting public consultation on the proposal, which will form part of the OEB submission. Sessions are set for March 2 at the Stoney Creek Lions Club from 5 to 8 p.m. and March 8 at the Mount Hamilton Legion from 5 to 8 p.m. Residents can also provide input online, by visiting hamiltonreinforcement.com between Feb. 27 and March 12. 

'How many households… would have to turn off the gas?'

Dundas councillor Alex Wilson was among several on council who indicated they'd like to see more research on the alternatives to a new gas pipeline.

"Why does the demand increase need a system capacity increase?" Wilson asked. "I'm trying to understand, for example, if reductions in natural gas use in other parts of the city have an impact on this. How many households… would have to turn off the gas?"

Costello said he believed Enbridge's submission to the OEB would contain those answers. In addition to OEB approval, the project would also require City of Hamilton and conservation authority permits, he said. 

Council delegate Don McLean, a member of environmental group Hamilton 350, suggested moving households from gas furnaces to electric heat pumps could help free up some capacity for the steel project without requiring additional capacity.

"I'm concerned generally about this project because it makes worse the crisis," he said. "Most of the natural gas – I would call it fossil gas – used in Ontario… is fracked gas. It is probably as bad as coal for its implications on global climate."

Borsuk told CBC Hamilton that he has a hard time imagining Enbridge agreeing to reduce gas sales voluntarily.

"They are going to want to sell their product for as long as they can," he said. "That's just the reality of the situation."

When contacted for an interview on the subject, Costello responded with the following emailed comments:

"Enbridge Gas reviews pipeline alternatives, through our Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) framework (which has been approved by our regulator, the Ontario Energy Board). This process considers safety, timelines, customer-specific build and cost.

"However, the volume of natural gas and delivery pressures required for this project indicate that a full non-pipeline alternative cannot address the project's needs, which is a customer-specific build."