Residents of Sorel-Tracy have been breathing in harmful dust emitted by the activities of a grain port terminal for years. Numerous violations of air quality standards have been observed there, according to a Public Health report obtained by The duty and whose details have never been communicated to the population.
Facility owner Richardson International says steps have been taken to limit fine particulate emissions since testing was conducted in 2017 and 2018. Residents in the area, however, continue to see dust from the elevator. grains accumulate on their quarter.
The report from the Direction de santé publique (DSP) de la Montérégie, dated October 2021, reports that the maximum concentrations of particles in suspension in the air were exceeded for the majority of the days on which samples were taken. Its first recommendation, addressed to Sorel-Tracy, was to inform the population about the results of this study “and the potential health risks following exposure to cereal dust”.
The team had noted “the regular presence of dust in the air” during its visits to the sampling stations. The Montérégie DSP report indicates that “clouds of dust were visible when the Richardson International company was loading or unloading boats and trucks”.
To comply with the Quebec standard, the total concentration of airborne particles must not exceed an average of 120 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) per 24 hour period. Over the 24 days of sampling carried out by a center of expertise of the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MELCC), 20 exceedances were recorded at at least one of the four stations. The highest daily value was 1780 µg/m3.
Fine particles of less than 10 microns (PM10) are not governed by a Quebec standard, but the Montérégie DSP takes into account the standard of the World Health Organization, which is set at 50 µg/m3 per 24 hour period. This standard was exceeded on 14 of the 23 days. The highest daily value was 205 µg/m3.
To ensure that the suspended particles are indeed coming from the grain terminal, the officials considered the direction of the winds. Since, on the majority of the overrun days, the wind was blowing from the company, the experts concluded that the terminal was “a source” of particles.
In January 2022, however, health officials asked the City to wait before releasing test results. They had been informed by Richardson International that measures to reduce dust emissions had been put in place. The MELCC had not received a complaint from residents since the end of 2018.
“Insofar as we had hoped to transmit different information to the population, it seemed more appropriate to us to check certain things with the Ministry of the Environment” before publishing this report, confirms to the To have to the public health director of the Montérégie, the DD Julie Loslier. “The interval is because we had the concern to transmit the right information,” she says.
Residents in front of the “unknown”
Fresh complaints after a ship was loaded with corn last April finally prompted authorities to announce last Tuesday that it would be holding a new round of testing this fall and next spring to “protect people’s health.” and to “verify the effectiveness” of the measures put in place by Richardson International.
Particles thrown up into the air during the transfer of grain into vessels can affect the respiratory tract, cause coughing, as well as exacerbate asthma and allergy symptoms in those who breathe them.
“It’s the unknown,” laments Patricia Falls, a resident of rue Reine, located near the maritime terminal. The asthmatic lady, who has lived for 12 years in this district adjoining many industries, has been experiencing incessant respiratory symptoms for her last two years of teleworking.
Mme Falls confirms that he frequently sees clouds of “yellowish” dust coming from the grain elevator when the wind is blowing from that direction. And like most residents of the area, she was unaware of the air quality tests carried out by the authorities, let alone the results obtained.
Dust ends up on terraces, on vehicles, “in houses when the windows are open” and “in our lungs too”, warns Corina Bastiani, a committed citizen of rue Reine who will be running for mayor. of Sorel-Tracy, whose leader was dismissed in June.
Last spring, city councilor Jocelyn Mondou saw with his own eyes the heavy dust episode that prompted eight complaints from citizens and revived the interest of Public Health. The wind was so strong that the water cannons installed by the company to knock down the particles were not enough for the task. “The dust happened to pass through,” notes Mr. Mondou.
Yan Desfossés, a resident of the area, has not observed any decrease in dust episodes since the company says it has put new measures in place. “Over time, the situation does not improve,” says the father, who criticizes the “lack of diligence” of the authorities in the case.
Expectations
The management of Richardson International has told the City of Sorel-Tracy that since 2018 it has been using “loading systems that are more efficient in reducing particulate emissions”, “dust sprinklers” generating a curtain of water blocking their dispersion and ” additional dust collection units”.
According to the City, which received a copy of the Public Health report in December 2021, the company criticized the analysis methodology in its January 2022 protest letter. According to our information, Richardson International believes that the sampling does not allow to assert that it is indeed the grain terminal that is in question.
The deputy mayor of Sorel-Tracy, Martin Lajeunesse, now “hopes” that the report that will be submitted to the City at the end of the new analyzes will be submitted more quickly than the first. “I will follow the file closely, hoping to have a report in a year or two,” said Mr. Lajeunesse.
“If I had one wish to make, it would be for the analyzes to be more favorable [que dans le premier rapport]. I cross my fingers so that it is that ”, underlines for its part the DD Julie Loslier, who expects this next analysis to be completed more quickly than the first, “unless a variant [du virus de la COVID-19] throws us into the darkness of 2020”, which had slowed down the drafting of the first report.
After numerous calls and a trip to the Richardson International facilities in Sorel-Tracy on Friday, The duty was unable to get an interview with company management.