The Legault government minimizes the rejection by the citizens of Rouyn-Noranda of the project for a new standard for arsenic in the air.
In a press scrum on Wednesday, Environment Minister Benoit Charette commented on the results of public consultations held on the discharges from the Horne smelter.
The consultations reveal that the citizens of this city of Abitibi-Témiscamingue are opposed by 58% to a proposal that would authorize a limit on the concentration of arsenic in the air of up to 15 nanograms per cubic meter.
It is therefore still too high for three out of five respondents.
Mr. Charette said that the standard of 15 nanograms per cubic meter is one element among many others in the proposal.
He refused to discuss before January the terms of the certificate he must issue to the foundry.
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