(Montreal) Analyzes carried out by the Ministry of the Environment on samples of metal dust on the grounds of a school in Rouyn-Noranda, after an incident that occurred a few weeks ago at the Horne Foundry, show a content of arsenic 137 times higher than the limit set in Quebec.
On March 7, citizens of Rouyn-Noranda shared photos of “black snow” on social networks.
Six days later, the Ministry of the Environment issued a notice of non-compliance to Glencore, owner of the smelter, for the emission of contaminants “under section 20 of the Environmental Quality Act. environment (LQE) and for not recovering the contamination”.
Four days after the citizens’ report, on March 11, the ministry proceeded to analyze snow samples at various locations in the city.
The results of the analysis, published on Wednesday, show that on the grounds of the Notre-Dame de Protection primary school, the arsenic content amounts to 4130 milligrams per kilogram, 137 times higher than the concentration limit value in arsenic on the ground for residential properties in Quebec.
The information was first published by Radio-Canada.
Isabelle Fortin-Rondeau, who is part of the group of citizens Mères au front, is offended to note that once again in the case of the foundry, citizens are learning important information from the media rather than from the authorities. .
“When there was the famous wind blowing of concentrates from the foundry to the surrounding land (March 7), we felt that no one was alarmed, the School Board was not alarmed, public health was not alarmed and today we learn that it was highly contaminated with nickel, lead and arsenic. »
She denounces “a lack of transparency”, because “it is the Ministry of the Environment which carried out these analyses, so why is the information reaching us through journalists who have obtained a copy of the analyses? It happened like that too when we learned that houses were going to be destroyed to create a buffer zone. We learned from the media, it’s really been the modus operandi from the beginning in this file, we have to run after the information, ”lamented the resident of Rouyn-Noranda.
The group Mères au front has also launched a fundraising campaign to analyze samples of contaminated snow taken from different sectors of Rouyn-Noranda.
“We collected samples much further away than just around the foundry” and “we will have them analyzed by a private laboratory”.
To obtain the results of the analyzes of the Ministry of the Environment, it is necessary to carry out a search in a sub-section of a page called “Responses to requests for access to documents”, which in turn, appears in a section called “Dissemination of information and protection of personal information” from the website of the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks.
The Canadian Press asked a regional spokesperson for the department if it had a plan to communicate and explain the results of the tests carried out on March 11 to the residents of Rouyn-Noranda, but the news agency had not obtained response Wednesday morning.
The opposition reacts
The results of the analysis of the samples made the opposition deputies react Wednesday morning in the National Assembly.
“The arsenic pollution that is on the snow next to the school, in the schoolyards, where the children of Rouyn-Noranda play, it is very, very serious” and “it is all the same something to say to yourself that you have to think before sending a child out to play, because he may come into contact with arsenic when he plays. It is inconceivable that in Quebec, we have this situation, ”said the solidarity Alejandra Zaga Mendez.
“Can the company be trusted when it reassures people, sends a press release saying: “There is no dust, no contaminants in this dust which is stored outside the foundry “, and that government, Ministry of the Environment tests, conducted a few weeks later, show high concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, nickel, lead? So, I am calling for a responsible position on the part of the government, which must really, there, give a boost and ensure that the environment around the foundry is truly healthy for the neighbours”, has for his part commented on the PQ Joël Arseneau.
A “wind washout of copper concentrate”
On March 16, Glencore’s communications and community relations manager, Cindy Caouette, commented on the situation regarding contaminated snow in the vicinity of the foundry, during a press briefing: “As soon as we been advised that there was a possible aeolian washout of copper concentrate, the teams were sent to the field to make a visual observation to try to delimit the area, samples were taken and we are currently in the process of carrying out the collecting snow on which dust is found”.
A week ago, the Ministry of the Environment announced that it had opened a criminal investigation into the Horne Foundry in Rouyn-Noranda, due to metal particles that escaped from these facilities on March 7.
The file should be sent to the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions and according to the regional director of environmental control at the MELCCFP, Annie Cassista, for this type of offence, the law provides for a fine that can reach the sum of 6 million.