Chlor-Alkali Mercury Liquid Effluent Regulations

C.R.C., c. 811FISHERIES ACT
Regulations Respecting Deleterious Substances in Liquid Effluents from Chlor-Alkali PlantsShort 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Minister[Repealed, SOR/95-427, s. 1]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]

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.
SOR/95-427, s. 2.

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(s. 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(s. 6)

DAILY DATA TO BE REPORTED

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

SCHEDULE III(s. 9)Method for Total Mercury in Chlor-Alkali Effluents

1 Total mercury in chlor-alkali effluents shall be determined using the test method prescribed in the chapter entitled Mercury in Water, Storet No. Total 71900 in the publication “Methods for Chemical Analysis of Water and Wastes”, 1974, published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with the following modifications:

(a) section 3.1 under the heading ”Sample Handling and Preservation” shall be replaced by the following:
“3.1 Composite samples shall be collected in nitric acid cleaned glass carboys and representative portions transferred to nitric acid cleaned glass bottles with Teflon lined caps or in high density polyethylene bottles. Prior to sampling, the carboys shall be prepared by one of the following methods using the quantity of reagents required as determined from past experience with that particular type of sample.
Chlor-Alkali Plants Using Fresh Water:
Method A or Method B

A — 
add sufficient nitric acid to lower pH of the total sample to 1 or less and an excess of saturated potassium permanganate solution to maintain a purple colour,

B — 
add sufficient nitric acid to lower pH of the total sample to 0.5 and add sufficient potassium dichromate to make the sample contain 0.05 per cent potassium dichromate by wt.

Chlor-Alkali Plants Using Natural Sea Water:
Add sufficient nitric acid to lower the pH to 0.5 or less.
In either case a representative portion of the composite sample of a suitable volume should be carefully transferred.”

(b) section 4.3 under the heading “Interference” shall be replaced by the following:
“4.3 Chlorides: Since free chlorine also absorbs radiation at 253 nm, assurance must be made that free chlorine is absent before the mercury is reduced. The type of sample being tested will determine the procedure to be followed:
Chlor-Alkali Plants Using Fresh Water:
Potassium permanganate oxidation converts Cl to Cl2. This free chlorine is removed by re-conversion with excess hydroxylamine sulfate and subsequent purging of the dead air space in the sample bottle prior to the addition of stannous sulfate. Some mercury losses may be attributed to the possible formation of volatile mercury-chlorine compounds and mercury-hydroxylamine reduction compounds.
Chlor-Alkali Plants Using Natural Sea Water:
Sulfuric acid, nitric acid and potassium persulfate as oxidation reactants are sufficient since mercury in natural sea water is in the inorganic form in equilibrium between HgCl2, HgCl3-, HgCl4-2. Consequently, the problems associated with Cl2 generated are eliminated.”