Does Stelco land sale mean the end is near for polluting coke plant on Hamilton’s bayfront?

A lease agreement filed by Stelco appears to suggest the steelmaker could demolish its most polluting Hamilton facility - a coal-baking coke plant - within seven years.

A summary of a five-year lease for the bayfront battery" of coke ovens, plus a single optional two-year extension, was filed June 1 on Ontario's land registry as part of Stelco's historic sale of 800 acres of land to Slate Asset Management.

The steelmaker's own press release says it must vacate and demolish" buildings at the end of its various leases.

But Stelco spokesperson Trevor Harris said via email the steelmaker has no plans in place" to stop making coke at the plant. He said the lease document, which is signed by officials from Stelco and its new landlord, was filed in error" on the publicly accessible land registry.

Harris did not respond to questions about how long Stelco wants to keep the aging coke ovens in service, whether they could be relocated or if a longer lease is under consideration. A separate operating agreement filed to the land registry, however, suggests it is possible for the coke battery lease to be amended, extended or restated" in future.

The fate of the plant is hugely significant" to city residents, said Environment Hamilton's Lynda Lukasik, because its closure would signal the looming end of more than a century of coal-fired pollution on Hamilton's bayfront.

Bayfront neighbour ArcelorMittal Dofasco also uses vast amounts of coal to make steel - but it has already publicly vowed to stop doing so by 2028, if not sooner, as part of a green steel" transition funded in part by taxpayers.

Stelco announced the massive sale of its mostly vacant Hamilton port lands to Slate June 1 - along with plans to lease back 75 acres of land needed to continue steel finishing and coke-making operations that still employ 914 people.

Stelco's announcement specified it is leasing back cold rolling and galvanizing operations for 35 years to start - with multiple 20-year renewal options. We look forward to continuing to operate in the community that we have called home for over 100 years," said Stelco CEO Alan Kestenbaum in a release.

But land registry records obtained by The Spectator show shorter proposed leases for both the company's head office and Stelco's last remaining Hamilton coke plant, where coal is baked at high temperatures in a battery of 83 ovens to make the high-carbon coke used in traditional steelmaking.

Slate also released conceptual art of its proposed redevelopment of the Stelco lands that did not include any visible smokestacks for the current coke plant operations. Via email, the developer called the rendering aspirational" rather than literal and added it does not have a confirmed end date for coke-making that it can share.

Slate did not respond to specific questions about the lease agreement.

The prospect of ending coal use on the waterfront is tantalizing for anyone breathing the air downwind of the two steelmakers, argued Lukasik.

Aging coke plants at both steelmakers are responsible for much of the carbon emissions and cancer-causing benzene and benzo(a)pyrene pollution in Hamilton - not to mention occasional fallouts of black snow" on homes near the industrial northeast and along the beach strip.

The sooner these players can transition away from coal in a climate emergency, the better," said Lukasik.

The suggested lease deadline is concerning" for the 150-plus unionized workers who run the coke plant and related equipment, said United Steel Workers Local 1005 president Ron Wells.

Wells said he had not previously seen the proposed lease agreement, but has heard from some workers worried about the concept art that appears to not include the coke plant.

We'll want to get more information about plans for the site, for sure," he said, noting the union is in contract talks with Stelco now. We will always fight to protect jobs for our members."

But Wells also said he believes Stelco still relies heavily on the coke produced in Hamilton.

Stelco finishes steel in Hamilton, but no longer manufactures it on the city bayfront. Instead, Hamilton Hilton Works produces coke that is shipped to the company's integrated mill on Lake Erie, which has undergone nearly $300 million in upgrades in recent years.

The coke is used in a blast furnace at Lake Erie to make iron, and then steel - some of which is then sent back to Hamilton for finishing.

Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at for The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com