| Pleads guilty to ’08 discharge of soot over North End U.S. Steel Canada will pay a penalty of $187,500 for discharging a plume of black soot that spread over Hamilton’s North End as people were enjoying bayfront parks and the Waterfront Trail on a warm summer evening two years ago. The company pleaded guilty yesterday to one violation of Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act for the release from its Hamilton Works blast furnace on July 11, 2008. Similar events occurred on July 31, Aug. 7 and Aug. 19, all blamed on the furnace bleeder valve opening to prevent a potentially dangerous pressure buildup inside. Ministry investigators reported sooty, black deposits on cars, boats, homes, patio furniture, gardens and clothing. Some people reported difficulty breathing. One resident told The Spectator it looked like black dust bunnies falling from the sky. Frances Jewell, past commodore of the Hamilton Bay Sailing Club, said members were eating vanilla ice cream after a barbecue and suddenly found themselves and their ice cream covered in soot. U.S. Steel Canada, which bought the former Stelco in 2007, has six weeks to pay a fine of $150,000 and a victim surcharge of $37,500. | 
