The day after her telephone meeting with François Legault, the mayor of Rouyn-Noranda Diane Dallaire called on Friday for the appointment of a “State administrator” who would be entirely dedicated to the management of air quality.
Posted at 11:49
Updated at 1:27 p.m.
“This is an unprecedented situation for Rouyn-Noranda. The impacts are major on the health of citizens, environmental health and the development of the city of Rouyn-Noranda. The creation of a post of State administrator ensures that the file remains a priority for the government and that all the ministries coordinate more effectively to move it forward,” explained Ms.me Dallaire in a press release on Friday.
The elected official adds that her request would have received a “favorable reception” from the Prime Minister. In François Legault’s office, it is indicated that the mayor’s request “is relevant”. “We are thinking about different scenarios to meet the mayor’s request and the needs of her community. We will make an announcement in due course,” says press officer Nadia Talbot.
Diane Dallaire, who has been calling for an “ambitious” plan for several weeks to improve air quality in Rouyn-Noranda, says that “the current situation requires the government to take charge of all aspects”.
“I asked the Prime Minister that the City be part of the high-level discussions. The health of the citizens of Rouyn-Noranda is no longer to be taken lightly. The government must exert pressure on Glencore so that the company aims to achieve standards for all metals”, she continued, reiterating “the importance of acting immediately”.
Few details had so far filtered out on the nature of the private discussions between Mayor Dallaire and Premier Legault. However, the latter had indicated that he wanted to listen to requests from the City of Rouyn-Noranda.
Towards daily ceilings?
Last week, during an expected visit to Rouyn-Noranda, Environment Minister Benoit Charrette said he was considering establishing intermediate targets and daily caps at Glencore, as well as targets for other metals.
However, Quebec has not yet formally committed to ensuring that the Horne Foundry meets the Quebec standard for arsenic emissions. On Thursday, the federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, indicated that Ottawa could intervene, if necessary, in the file. “We can see that the Government of Quebec is very concerned about this affair. But we still have the responsibility to look in our own areas of jurisdiction if the federal government must intervene, ”he argued.
It should be noted that emissions from the Horne smelter generate average annual arsenic concentrations of 100 nanograms/cubic meter (ng/m3), which is 33 times higher than the Quebec standard, set at 3 ng/m3. The former national director of public health, Dr.r Horacio Arruda, had met with representatives of the foundry on September 26, 2019, before removing from a document which was to be made public an appendix evoking the link between arsenic emissions and cancer cases in the city.
In reaction to the controversy that followed in the following days, Mr. Legault had affirmed that the Horne Foundry will have to establish a plan to reduce its arsenic emissions “to a level that is safe for the population” of Rouyn-Noranda, failing which Quebec could order its closure.
The Horne Smelter is the only copper smelter in Canada. A study by the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ), published at the beginning of July, had revealed that over a period of 70 years, between one and 14 citizens of Rouyn-Noranda would develop cancer if the company Glencore does not reduce the concentration of arsenic in the air produced by the foundry.
Moreover, the government has been aware for several years that a dangerous situation needed to be corrected. In 2004, in a report entitled “Notice on arsenic in the ambient air in Rouyn-Noranda”, the Ministry of the Environment pointed out that “the population was exposed to emissions which sometimes reached 1000 nanograms/meter 3 , therefore 330 times higher than the current provincial standard”.
With The Canadian Press