Should the economy come before health? Or should health rather take precedence over the economy? The inhabitants of Rouyn-Noranda are grappling with this age-old dilemma.
Posted on June 26
In 2019, the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, took a resolute position in favor of health. He was reacting to the publication of the results of a study on the “lead, cadmium and arsenic impregnation” of children in the neighborhood where the infamous Horne smelter is located.
This is the report that caused so much noise last week, because we learned that one of its annexes had been withdrawn at the request of the Dr Arruda.
“Our first concern at the government level is really the health of the population,” said Benoit Charette, interviewed by journalist Patrice Roy.
It wasn’t quite accurate at the time. It is no more so today.
Oh, of course we care, in Quebec! But we were also very concerned – like many residents of Rouyn-Noranda, for that matter – about the survival of the foundry in recent years.
We don’t even need to dwell on the disappearance of the famous appendix to understand it. Just re-read the report’s recommendations.
It is written in black and white: “we cannot conclude that no health effect is likely to occur”, as regards the carcinogenic risk, “following chronic exposure to concentrations of arsenic greater than 3 nanograms per cubic meter”. This corresponds to the Quebec standard.
It is also emphasized that “continuous exposure to concentrations above 15 nanograms per cubic meter would not protect children from the neurotoxic effects that may be induced by arsenic”.
However, in 2017, the Horne smelter was given the right to emit up to 33 times more arsenic than the Quebec standard. More exactly 100 nanograms per cubic meter. And in the previous 10 years, it could go up to 200 nanograms per cubic meter.
This factory was literally given a permit to pollute. And it is not the only one in Quebec to benefit from what is generally called a “sanitation certificate”.
A total of 89 other polluters are entitled to this preferential treatment. The Ministry of the Environment provided the list to The Press. There are, for example, Rio Tinto Alcan factories in Saguenay, numerous mines and an even greater number of establishments in the pulp and paper sector throughout the province.
The idea behind this mechanic is not absurd. The Horne Foundry obtained this certification because it was in operation long before the standard in question was applied. It is a sort of grandfather clause (“grandfather clause”) aimed at forcing a company to gradually comply with the regulations.
But the most recent data on the health of the population of Rouyn-Noranda show that we have fallen into complacency in wanting to show tolerance.
And we end up with an environmental scandal on our hands.
What would you say if you were told that people generally die five years earlier in the neighborhood where you live than elsewhere in Quebec? That the rate of obstructive lung disease is significantly higher in your city? Or that there is a marked difference in the incidence of lung cancer and various other health problems? Among others…
It should be noted here that no one has established a formal causal link between these health problems and the Horne foundry. But it is its presence “that distinguishes Rouyn-Noranda from the rest of Quebec,” as the Abitibi-Témiscamingue regional environmental council recently pointed out.
So, for lack of anything better, public health authorities offer, in particular, recommendations to reduce children’s exposure to environmental contaminants.
For example, we suggest not sweeping or vacuuming in the presence of your children and washing their toys frequently. To prevent them from putting sand in their mouths. And not to leave baby’s pacifier on the floor.
It’s terrible to have come to this…
The good news in all this, because there is one, is that Quebec and the foundry are approaching a turning point. The sanitation certificate expires in November. It will have to be renewed.
The whole question is how much pressure will be put on the company to reduce its emissions even further. And how willing will the foundry be to collaborate without threatening to shut down?
On this subject, it would be good to obtain the opinion of the population of Rouyn-Noranda. To see the outcry of the last few weeks, we understand that we no longer wish to give the good Lord without confession to the owners of the factory. But is a majority of citizens ready to accept that the foundry closes its doors?
In any case, some of the requests made by the Rouyn-Noranda municipal council to the Quebec government in mid-June will remain valid.
We do not only want to improve the environmental performance of the foundry, we also want better management of the health problems that are multiplying due to the fumes of arsenic and other pollutants.
These injunctions must not remain a dead letter. This environmental scandal urgently needs to be much better managed than it has been so far.