Eight companies, not 89, can pollute more than the norm

(Montreal) The Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change unveiled on Friday a list of eight companies that have the right to contravene environmental standards on air and water emissions, which does not does not mean that these factories exceed these standards.

Last week, some media and politicians reported that 89 companies were deviating from existing pollution laws, but this is not the case according to information given to journalists during a technical briefing by the Ministry of Environment and the fight against climate change.

Ten days ago, the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charrette, told radio host Paul Arcand that 89 companies were polluting beyond provincial environmental standards, information relayed by the media and politicians.

But these 89 establishments are the subject of a ministerial authorization relating to the operation of an industrial establishment, also called “certificate of sanitation”, which does not mean that they do not respect the laws in force.

The Ministry of the Environment made a point of correcting the information by specifying that only eight companies out of the 89 which have sanitation certificates have “the right” not to respect the standards.

What’s more, just because these eight companies have the right to exceed standards doesn’t mean they do.

For example, Rio Tinto is on this list, but complies with the standards in force according to the ministry, unlike the Horne Foundry, which is among the violators.

Of the six other companies on the list, the Ministry of the Environment was unable on Friday to specify whether some of them exceeded the standards indicated on their sanitation certificate.