The City of Rouyn-Noranda demands an explanation after the publication of analyzes carried out by the Ministry of the Environment on samples of metal dust on the grounds of a school in Rouyn-Noranda, which show an arsenic content 137 times higher than the limit set in Quebec.
The analyzes were carried out after an incident that occurred a few weeks ago at the Horne smelter.
On March 7, citizens of Rouyn-Noranda shared photos of “black snow” on social networks.
Six days later, the Ministry of the Environment issued a notice of non-compliance to Glencore, owner of the smelter, for the emission of contaminants “under section 20 of the Environmental Quality Act. environment (LQE) and for not recovering the contamination”.
Four days after the citizens’ report, on March 11, the ministry proceeded to analyze snow samples at various locations in the city.
The results of the analysis, published on Wednesday, show that, on the grounds of Notre-Dame-de-Protection primary school, the arsenic content is 4130 milligrams per kilogram, i.e. a content 137 times higher than the ground arsenic concentration limit value for residential properties in Quebec.
The information was first published by Radio-Canada.
On Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Diane Dallaire indicated that “the results of the dust analyzes which arrive nearly two months after the events raise a lot of questions and concerns” in the community.
His administration asks that Public Health and the Ministry of the Environment explain themselves to the population and indicate “how they make sure to protect our citizens”.
Learn it from the media
Isabelle Fortin-Rondeau, who is part of the group of citizens Mères au front, is offended to note that once again in the case of the foundry, citizens are learning important information from the media rather than from the authorities. .
“When there was the famous wind blowing of the concentrates from the foundry to the land around [le 7 mars], we felt that no one was alarmed, the School Board was not alarmed, Public Health was not alarmed, and today we learn that it was highly contaminated with nickel, lead, arsenic. »
She denounces “a lack of transparency”, because “it is the Ministry of the Environment which carried out these analyses. So why is the information reaching us from journalists who have obtained a copy of the analyses? It happened like that too when we learned that houses were going to be destroyed to create a buffer zone. We learned about it from the media. It’s really been the modus operandi from the start in this file, you have to run after information, ”lamented the resident of Rouyn-Noranda.
The group Mères au front has also launched a fundraising campaign to analyze samples of contaminated snow taken from different sectors of Rouyn-Noranda.
“We collected samples much further away than just around the foundry” and “we will have them analyzed by a private laboratory”.
To obtain the results of the analyzes of the Ministry of the Environment, it is necessary to carry out a search in a sub-section of a page called “Responses to requests for access to documents”, which it appears in a section called “Dissemination of the ‘information and protection of personal information’ from the website of the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks.
The Canadian Press asked a regional spokesperson for the department if it had a plan to communicate and explain the results of the tests carried out on March 11 to residents of Rouyn-Noranda, but the news agency had not obtained response Wednesday afternoon.
“Very, very serious”
The results of the analysis of the samples made the opposition deputies react Wednesday morning in the National Assembly.
“The arsenic pollution that is on the snow next to the school, in the schoolyards, where the children of Rouyn-Noranda play, it is very, very serious” and “it is all the same something to say to yourself that you have to think before sending a child out to play, because he may come into contact with arsenic when he plays. It is inconceivable that in Quebec we have this situation, ”said the solidarity Alejandra Zaga Mendez.
“Can the company be trusted when it reassures people, sends a press release saying: “There is no dust, no contaminants in this dust which is stored outside the foundry ”, while tests from the government, the Ministry of the Environment, carried out a few weeks later, show high concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, nickel, lead? So, I am calling for a responsible position on the part of the government, which must really, there, give a boost and ensure that the environment around the foundry is truly healthy for the neighbours”, has for his part affirmed the PQ Joël Arseneau.
A “wind washout of copper concentrate”
On March 16, Glencore’s communications and community relations manager, Cindy Caouette, commented on the situation regarding contaminated snow in the vicinity of the foundry during a press briefing: “As soon as we were advised that there was a possible wind washout of copper concentrate, the teams were sent to the field to visually observe to try to delimit the area, samples were taken and we are currently in the process of collecting snow on which there is dust. »
A week ago, the Ministry of the Environment announced that it had opened a criminal investigation into the Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, due to metal particles that escaped from these facilities on March 7.
The case should be sent to the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions and, according to the regional director of environmental control at the MELCCFP, Annie Cassista, for this type of offence, the law provides for a fine that can reach the sum of 6 million dollars.