The Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) wants to force the Horne smelter to limit its releases of arsenic into the air to 15 nanograms per cubic meter (ng / m3), but only in 5 years, after the expiry of the next certificate of sanitation.
Environment Minister Benoit Charette was in Rouyn-Noranda on Monday to present the main environmental requirements to be imposed on the Horne smelter.
The government thus intends to impose on the foundry owned the same standard deemed “acceptable” by Public Health last week.
This new pollution ceiling will be integrated into the next decontamination certificate that Quebec must require from manufacturers. Currently, the agreement with the government allows the smelter’s emissions to reach an annual average of 100 ng/m3, or 33 times more than the Quebec standard of 3 ng/m3.
Until the foundry reaches this target of 15 ng/m3 in 5 years, ie at the end of this new certification, “intermediate targets” will be mandatory.
“We will not accept that during years 1-2-3-4, we are still at 100 [ng / m3]. We want to see convincing results much more quickly,” said Minister Charette.
He did not detail the content of these “intermediate targets”, claiming ” [attendre] the foundry’s proposals” regarding their plan to modernize their facilities. An online public consultation between September 6 and October 20 should also feed the reflections of his ministry on this subject. “We have to allow time to implement the various measures,” added Mr. Charette.
The Minister has not closed the door to financial compensation to help the foundry achieve this new standard.
Benoit Charette also “put the cards on the table” regarding other environmental requirements. Quebec will force the foundry to cap its polluting emissions of metals other than arsenic, such as lead and cadmium. Daily standards will also be imposed. However, Minister Charette did not offer any details concerning the content of these new concentrations accepted by the government.
The “park of sampling stations” must be enlarged, he specified, in order to better monitor the foundry’s toxic discharges. He mentioned a “360” follow-up, that is to say all around the immense metallurgical complex.
The agreement between Quebec and the Horne smelter must be signed by the end of the year, after the provincial elections scheduled for October 3.
Cancer risks
A few weeks ago, an INSPQ report revealed that, over a period of 70 years, between one and 14 more citizens of Rouyn-Noranda would develop cancer if the company Glencore does not reduce the concentration in the air. of arsenic from the Horne Foundry.
With the new arsenic threshold proposed last Wednesday by Public Health and confirmed Monday by the Minister, the risk of cancer would be “three cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 70 years” if the standards are respected for nickel and cadmium. According to the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ), the “unacceptable risk” corresponds to “10 cases per 100,000 inhabitants”.
Since there are approximately 40,000 inhabitants in Rouyn-Noranda, three cancers per 100,000 inhabitants represent 1.2 cancers over a period of 70 years of exposure.
With The Canadian Press