MISA's revolutionary approach to pollution abatement The environment folio has often been a political minefield yet Ontario Environment Minister Jim Bradley proved a major asset in the Liberal Government's landslide victory of 1987. Environmental Science & Engineering asked the Minister to write an article on his government's MiSA program which will revolution ize the way industries and municipalities deal with pollution abatement processes.
discharge directly to rivers and lakes and for those with effluent
treated at municipal sewage works. It also presents important opportunities for the scientists, engineers, technicians and managers involved in industrial pollution abatement. Best Avail able Technology calls for the best that is available in scientific
MISA, the Municipal-Industrial Strategy for Abatement, is the dynamic regulatory tool the Ontario government adopted to clean up Provincial waterways. MISA's ultimate objective is the virtual elimination of persistent toxic substances from municipal and industrial discharges into our waterways.
For each of nine major indus trial sectors and the municipal sewage treatment plants, MISA imposes first a monitoring regu lation which requires dischargers to test for the presence and report the quantities oftoxic substances in their effluent. This monitoring information will form the basis
of abatement regulations requir ing pollution reductions to the levels attainable by the Best Available Technology economically achievable. The limits, based on available technology, will get stricter as periodic reviews assess new and evolving technologies in each sector. The result will be a stepby-step tightening of pollution controls until toxic contaminant
discharges are virtually eliminated. This sets a challenging pollu
tion control agenda for Ontario industry - both for those which 12
and engineering expertise. Applying this technology to meet rising environmental standards in a cost-effective way is equally challenging to company managers who have to keep pace with the rest of their industry. There is, however, a way to score a bull's-eye on this moving target. The best shot at success for any company is changes in industrial processes which eliminate the creation of toxic wastes. Such moves would also
eliminate the capital costs of installing end-of-pipe controls as well as the operating costs of safe disposal of captured contaminants.
I am pleased that some of Ontario's dischargers have already applied the 4R principles with some success. Steico and Texaco in
Nanticoke have segregated their waste streams so that treatment
can be pollutant-specific and thus highly efficient. At Steico, this allows for recovery of ammonia from the coking process. It is mixed with sulphuric acid and sold as fertil izer. These efforts have resulted
in a drastic reduction in pollu tion loadings. Some municipalities are practising source control to keep certain pollutants, notably heavy metals, out of their sewer systems. The sludge can then be used as fertilizer.
Certain industries have gone even further hy changing the manufacturing process. AbitibiPrice, in Thunder Bay, has con verted from sulphite pulping to a semi-chemical, mechanical process which resulted in a dramatic increase in pulp yield -
When an industry is under economic pressure, corporate
from 65% to 90% - with a corres
survival instincts call for trim-
loadings. Companies which develop
ing fat and working lean. The environmental pressure of MISA, and the fact that this is a com
petitive world, are strong arguments for a fresh look at the basic processes, to trim material and energy waste, and eliminate unwanted toxic by-products. This benefits both private profit ability and the environment we all share.
A complete process review also provides an opportunity to identify wastes which, with some operational modifications, may become marketable to other companies for other uses. In fact, all of the 4R solutions should be explored - waste Reduction, Reuse,Recycling and Recovery.
ponding decrease in pollution
cost-effective and low-or no-
waste processes have an added advantage. Their competitors comprise a potential market for selling the process, thereby recovering development costs and profiting from those who are slow off the mark.
With MISA's progressive tight ening of allowable limits, i believe the biggest dividends -- both economic and environmental ~
wiil go to the companies which make early investments in research and development in these directions. Some compan ies will find closed-loop proces ses which discharge virtually no pollution. This is the MISA goal each discharger should strive for.
Environmental Science & Engineering, Jan/Feb 1988