Ontario chemical plant to permanently close after orders to reduce benzene emissions [Video]

Ineos Styrolution announced that it will permanently shutter operations in southwestern Ontario after both the provincial and federal governments enacted new rules aimed at curbing benzene emissions at its plants.

The chemical manufacturer said Tuesday in a statement that it will cease operations in Sarnia by June 2026.

In April, Global News first reported how Aamjiwnaang First Nation residents said they had become sickened after dangerously high levels of the cancer-causing chemical benzene were detected in the air. The community is located in an area known as Chemical Valley.

“The long-term prospects for the Sarnia site have worsened to the point that it is no longer an economically viable operating asset,” the company’s CEO Steve Harrington said.

Ineos said the decision to permanently cease operations was “irrespective of the current situation” after the Ontario government forced the company to temporarily shut down the facility in May. The company has previously said that it “detected no emissions exceeding the prescribed …