Short Title

1 These Regulations may be cited as the Chlor-Alkali Mercury Liquid Effluent Regulations.

Interpretation

• 2 (1) In these Regulations,

  Act

  Act means the Fisheries Act; (Loi)

  composite sample

  composite sample means a sample obtained in accordance with section 7; (échantillon composite)

  day

  day means any period of 24 consecutive hours; (jour)

  deposit

  deposit means to deposit or permit the deposit into water frequented by fish; (rejeter)

  effluent

  effluent means any water or waters discharged from a plant, storm water, run-off and seepage from land used for the deposit of wastewater and sludges associated with the operation of a plant, but does not include

  • (a) storm water that is protected from contamination by mercury that originates from the plant, where the average concentration of mercury in at least 3 samples of the storm water, taken at intervals of 15 minutes, does not exceed 0.5 µg/L, or

  • (b) wastewater from the plant that, prior to being deposited, is treated at a site outside a plant for the purpose of removing mercury from it, in such a manner that the quantity of mercury remaining in that wastewater after treatment, when added to the quantity of mercury deposited directly, does not exceed the deposit authorized under section 5; (effluent)

  mercury

  mercury means elemental mercury and all chemical forms thereof; (mercure)

  Minister

  Minister[Repealed, SOR/95-427, s. 1]

  owner

  owner of a plant means the owner or operator or his authorized representative; (propriétaire)

  plant

  plant means facilities designed or operated for the production of chlorine and alkali metal hydroxide by means of any industrial process involving the electrolysis of an alkali metal chloride brine using a mercury cell, and any ancillary equipment that is used for the further concentration of the alkali metal hydroxide produced by the mercury cell and includes all properties used for the operation of those facilities; (fabrique)

  rated capacity

  rated capacity means the maximum daily design capacity of a plant as specified by the manufacturer; (rythme de production théorique)

  reference production rate

  reference production rate means the quantity of chlorine, expressed in tonnes per day, determined to be the reference production rate of that plant in accordance with section 8; (rythme de production)

  storm water

  storm water means, subject to subsection (2), water run-off resulting from precipitation of any kind that falls on a plant or that passes over or through a plant and includes groundwater from within a plant that may reach waters frequented by fish. (eaux pluviales)

• (2) and (3) [Repealed, SOR/95-427, s. 1]

Application

3 These Regulations apply to every plant.

Substance Prescribed as Deleterious Substance

4 For the purpose of the definition deleterious substance in subsection 34(1) of the Act, mercury resulting from the operations or processes of a plant is hereby prescribed as a deleterious substance.

Authorized Deposit of Deleterious Substance

5 Subject to these Regulations, the owner of a plant may deposit mercury contained in effluent if the actual deposit of mercury in any day does not exceed 0.00250 kilogram per tonne of chlorine times the reference production rate of that plant.

Additional Conditions of Authorization

• 6 (1) The owner of a plant shall, for each type of effluent deposited by the plant,

  • (a) install and maintain facilities, including sampling connections and flow measuring devices, of such type as the Minister may approve in writing for sampling and analysing the effluent for the purpose of enabling the Minister to determine whether the owner is complying with the limits of the authorized deposits prescribed by section 5;

  • (b) take a composite sample each day;

  • (c) analyse the sample referred to in paragraph (b) in accordance with section 9;

  • (d) accurately and continuously measure and record the flow each day;

  • (e) retain the records of measurements made under paragraph (d) for a period of 12 months; and

  • (f) calculate each day the actual deposit of mercury as prescribed by section 10.

• (2) The owner of a plant shall, where mercury in effluent is discharged into any place under any conditions where such mercury may be deposited by seepage or any other means, and where a composite sample from the place cannot be obtained and the flow of the effluent from the place cannot be measured

  • (a) take a composite sample of the effluent discharged into the place each day;

  • (b) analyse the sample referred to in paragraph (a) in accordance with section 9;

  • (c) accurately and continuously measure and record the flow of the effluent discharged into the place each day;

  • (d) retain the records of measurements made under paragraph (c) for a period of 12 months; and

  • (e) calculate each day the amount of mercury discharged into the place and include the amount in any calculations made pursuant to paragraph (1)(f).

• (3) The owner of a plant shall, within 30 days after the end of each month, send to the Minister the information required by Schedules I and II, in the forms set out in those Schedules or in such other form as the Minister may approve in writing.

Method of Collecting Samples

7 A composite sample shall be obtained by collecting effluent discharged from a plant during a day

• (a) at intervals not longer than 10 minutes and at a rate in proportion to the flow rate of the effluent discharged; or

• (b) in such a manner that equal volumes of effluent are delivered into a receptacle at equal intervals not longer than 10 minutes.

Reference Production Rate

• 8 (1) For the purposes of section 5, the reference production rate of a plant during any month is

  • (a) the rated capacity of the plant where

    • (i) the arithmetic mean of the actual daily production rate of chlorine during the previous three months, excluding days on which there was no production, deviated from the rated capacity of the plant by less than 15 per cent,

    • (ii) the plant was shut down for all of the previous three months, or

    • (iii) the plant is in its first 12 months of operation; and

  • (b) where none of the conditions of subparagraphs (a)(i) to (iii) are applicable, the arithmetic mean of the actual daily production rate of chlorine during the previous three months, excluding days on which there was no production.

• (2) The actual daily production rate of chlorine may be calculated from power consumption or from any other method approved by the Minister.

Analytical Test Method

9 For the purposes of section 6, the concentration of mercury in effluent shall be determined using

• (a) the test method described in Schedule III; or

• (b) any other equivalent method, approved in writing by the Minister, the results of which can be confirmed by the method referred to in Schedule III.

Calculation of Actual Deposit

• 10 (1) For the purposes of section 6, the actual daily deposit of mercury from a plant shall be calculated using the measurements of total effluent flow determined in accordance with paragraphs 6(1)(d) and 6(2)(c), and the measurement of mercury concentration obtained from a composite sample shall be analysed in accordance with section 9.

• (2) Where a plant accumulates, for treatment by a batch process, all or a portion of the effluent discharged by the plant over a period of more than one day and deposits the treated effluent on one day, the owner may, for the purposes of section 5, attribute the mercury deposited in that day equally to those days on which the effluent was accumulated.

SCHEDULE I(Section 6)

Monthly Data To Be Reported

During the Month of	19
Company Name
Location of Plant	Phone

1 Reference Production Rate				tpd
2 Declared chlorine production				t
3 Net input of mercury to the plant				kg
4 Mercury disposition				kg
(a) mercury deposited with effluents				kg
(b) mercury in products leaving the plant				kg
(i) mercury in the caustic soda produced				kg
(ii) mercury in sodium hypochlorite produced (if applicable)				kg
(iii) mercury in hydrochloric acid produced (if applicable)				kg
(iv) others				kg
(c) mercury impounded with solids				kg
(d) others				kg
				kg
				kg
Total mercury used or disposed of				kg
5 Total mercury in stores
(a) at the beginning of the month				kg
(b) at the end of the month				kg
6 Mercury added to capital inventory				kg

I hereby certify that the statement and quantities listed above are correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature of the responsible Officer of the Company

SCHEDULE II(Section 6)

Name of CompanyLocation of PlantMonth of
		1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  29  30  31
1 Total actual quantity of mercury in effluent(s) deposited (in kilograms per day).
2 Attributable quantity of mercury in effluent(s) deposited (in kilograms per day and when applicable).
3 Declared chlorine production (in tonnes per day).
4 Kilograms of mercury deposited per reference tonnes of chlorine.
5 Concentration of mercury in each liquid effluent (in mg/l).
6 Quantity of each liquid effluent discharged (in cubic meters per day).

I hereby certify that the information provided here is correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature of the Responsible Officer of the Company