1950

In the 1950s, rates of pollution in the Hamilton Harbour impacted the water quality to such a severe extent that city officials deemed beaches unsafe and closed them to recreational use. This was long overdue as there had been reports of fish tasting like coal and even small dead animals coated in oil from the refinery in the harbour for years prior. These distressing consequences, which were a direct result of refineries in the industrial sector, began to ring alarm bells for the damage that steel production was causing.  An assessment of water in the Hamilton Harbour performed in 1950 indicated elevated concentrations of phosphate (0.08mg/L).  These increased concentrations were a result of both contaminants from the industrial sector and the dumping of municipal sewage into the harbour. High levels of phosphate are linked to increased growth of aquatic plants and consequently, decreased levels of dissolved oxygen causing eutrophication.    Eutrophication poses a serious threat to aquatic ecosystems resulting in decreased water quality, overall destruction of habitats, and mass species death.

 

The year 1950 brought about a policy change that benefited the health of steelworkers — the implementation of a regulated 40-hour work week.  Stelco was one of the first plants to implement this regulation that eventually became the standard for all workplaces. This shift was important as it ensured that workers were to be paid one and a half times the applicable hourly rate for each hour worked past 40 hours.  Working reasonable hours is crucial to maintain both physical and mental health, particularly in physically demanding jobs like many of the positions in the steel industry.  A study by Dembe et al. published in 2005 found that working in jobs with overtime schedules resulted in a 61% higher injury hazard rate.  Additionally, the lack of sleep associated with working long, overtime hours is known to negatively affect mental health and cognitive function.   Further, it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes in the long term. While these health problems are unlike many of those previously discussed, as they are not a direct result of the harmful emissions of the steel industry, they can also be detrimental. Therefore, the 40-hour work week improved the quality of life of many steelworkers and is remembered as a great success of the United Steelworkers Union of Canada.

 

Nonetheless, in 1951 Stelco opened an additional, and very powerful, blast furnace which increased Canadian ingot capacity by 20 percent.   This new furnace reached a height of 226 feet and employed basic oxygen and open hearth furnaces. The progression to basic oxygen furnaces was an achievement as they had only recently become available.  Additionally, Dofasco opened the company's first blast furnace putting it into operation as a steel mill.   Reports on blast furnaces in Canada state that in 1951 Stelco had two stacks and a total annual capacity of 745,000 tons. Alternatively, Dofasco only had one newly developed stack with an annual capacity three times less. This furnace was in blast starting in late August 1951.   Therefore by 1951, the Hamilton steel industry had a total annual capacity of well over one million tons (Figure 1).

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Figure 1: Aerial photograph taken in 1952 of Stelco Mills in Hamilton.