| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
In 1999, Rio Tinto Alcan’s Kitimat Operations became the fi rst industrial facility in British Columbia to obtain a multi-media environmental permit from the provincial government. This permit comprehensively addresses multiple emissions, effluents and solid waste, sets limits and establishes monitoring and reporting requirements. The multimedia permit replaced a number of previous permits and is a key regulatory compliance benchmark for smelter operations. The permit provides guidelines for a resultsoriented environmental management approach. Kitimat Operations combines the permit guidelines with other proactive strategies to facilitate vigilant compliance monitoring and regular communications with public and private stakeholders. The multi-media permit mandates annual reporting to measure performance against established permit standards. This Annual Environmental Report is provided to meet the reporting requirements under the permit. It is submitted to the provincial government and made available to the public. In addition to the permit reporting for Kitimat Operations, a summary report for compliance of the Kemano Operations environmental permits is provided. In 2011, there were nine non-compliances; two related to emissions, one related to waste and six related to effl uent discharge. Four of the six effluent non-compliances related to a heavy rain-on-snow event in January. A discussion of the noncompliances, impacts and responses are highlighted in Chapter 11 of this report. The 2011 Annual Environmental Report is available online at www.riotintoalcaninbc.com. Locate the report by selecting Media then Environmental Reports from the drop-down menu. The website also provides information on key environmental performance indicators. Questions or comments are welcome and may be made through the contact page on the website. operational overview; environmental management and certification; effluents; emissions; air quality monitoring; vegetation monitoring; waste management; groundwater monitoring; Kemano; permits; non-compliance; spills; environmental permits; Kitimat; Nechako Reservoir |
