Three additional ambient air sampling stations will be installed in the coming weeks in Rouyn-Noranda as part of the renewal of Glencore’s ministerial authorization for the operation of the Horne Foundry.
These new stations, which will be added to the 15 already in place, will be operational this fall, announced the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charrette, in a press release Monday evening.
This is the follow-up to a commitment made by Quebec during the presentation, last March, of the government action plan to support Rouyn-Noranda in the controversy surrounding the quality of the air around the smelter.
The new stations will allow a “more complete assessment of the impact of atmospheric emissions on the quality of the ambient air around the foundry”, it is specified. They will be located in the northwest and southwest sectors of the city of Rouyn-Noranda and near the University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
According to the government plan presented last March, the multinational Glencore will pay for the acquisition and demolition of 80 buildings located in the north of the Notre-Dame district, neighboring the foundry, where a buffer zone will be demarcated.