Retrospective Analysis of the Environment and Community Associated with the O’Donnell Roast Bed, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

The world’s largest open ore roasting bed operated at O’Donnell, west of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, from 1916 to 1929. It processed the sulphur-rich, copper-nickel ores of the Canadian Copper Company prior to smelting. By the time it was closed, the ground level fumigations of sulphur dioxide had devastated vegetation for miles around. Roast yard workers were located at the townsite of O’Donnell which was located a mile downwind. Interviews with former O’Donnell residents have been conducted in an attempt to document the social impacts the roast yard had upon this community Sixty-eight years later, the roast bed itself is still almost devoid of vegetation. However, re-colonization and recovery elsewhere has allowed a forest, albeit unusual in species composition, to grow almost to the edge of the roast bed. The primary colonizers are metal-tolerant grasses, sedges and mosses. The surface soils of the recovered forest are still strongly acidic as is the roast bed itself (pH 3.9-4.2). Concentrations of nickel and copper in the roast bed still exceed several thousand µg/g, while several hundred µg/g Ni and Cu occur in surface forest soils to 300m from the roast bed edge. The social and environmental impacts of the land use changes of the O’Donnell roast bed area from the early 1900’s are described.