The path to clean air in Rouyn-Noranda is laid out by Quebec public health. A concentration of 15 nanograms per cubic meter of arsenic is considered “acceptable” in a transition to the pan-Quebec standard. The national director of public health, Luc Boileau, made the recommendation on Wednesday, at a press conference in Rouyn-Noranda.
” Standard [québécoise] of 3 ng / m3 of arsenic must be reached as quickly as possible, ”assured Mathieu Valcke, scientific advisor at the INSPQ, in a technical briefing to journalists.
Until then, an annual average of 15 ng/m3 “will allow us to protect ourselves against adverse health effects for young children and unborn children”. This amount of arsenic in the air will also cause a cancer risk equivalent to 3 cases per 100,000 people over a 70-year period. Currently, Horne Smelter contamination results in more than 12 cancers per 100,000 citizens.
Lead must also be reduced to a concentration of 100 ng/m3, as well as cadmium to 3.6 ng/m3. These bases are based on Californian environmental protection criteria “in the very specific context of foundries”, according to Mr. Valcke. The Horne smelter is currently only subject to an arsenic emission standard limited to 100 ng/m3 on an annual basis.
Experts have set conditions for achieving these health protection goals.
Pollution discharges must be capped daily, otherwise health risks will reappear. These point limits are at 200 ng/m3 for arsenic, 30 ng/m3 for cadmium and 350 ng/m3 for lead.
There is no data to calculate the risk associated with the mixing of contaminants in the human body, according to Mathieu Valcke. “The uncertainties are too great at this level. »
Nevertheless, public health recommends expanding pollution monitoring around the Horne smelter to take into account, for example, chromium and fine particles in the air. Recording must be “ideally daily”.
These recommendations are not based on the technical potential of the Horne smelter to reduce emissions. The plant wants to reduce its emissions “as close as possible to what is achievable”, said Alexis Segal, of Glencore communications. The company is due to present its plan to reduce its emissions next week.
Political pressure
Monday evening, the Rouyn-Noranda municipal council unanimously adopted a resolution asking that “the activities of the Horne smelter aim to achieve the environmental standards in force for all heavy metals and fine particles discharged into the ‘air “.
This resolution, formulated for the attention of the Government of Quebec, is in addition to that of June 13, which called in particular for an interdepartmental action plan centered on the health of the citizens of Rouyn-Noranda.
The city council also requested that the next ministerial authorization issued to Glencore by the Ministry of the Environment include daily emission ceilings.