The planned visit of Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette to Rouyn-Noranda has been postponed.
Mr. Charette had planned to go to the city of Abitibi-Témiscamingue on Tuesday to discuss the arsenic emissions produced by the Horne Foundry.
However, the minister said on Twitter that a maintenance problem on the plane forces him to postpone the visit “to a later date”.
Benoit Charette had said he wanted to go to Rouyn-Noranda to “meet the local actors”, adding that his priority would remain the safety of the citizens.
Under an agreement with the previous government, the Horne Foundry, owned by multinational Glencore, can release up to 100 nanograms of arsenic per cubic meter (100 ng/m3), or 33 times more than the limit recommended by Public Health.
A study by the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ), published last Wednesday, indicates that, over a period of 70 years, between one and 14 citizens of Rouyn-Noranda would develop cancer if the Glencore company does not decrease. the concentration of arsenic in the air produced by the Horne Smelter.
The faster and greater the decrease in arsenic emissions in the air of Rouyn-Noranda, the more there will be a gain for public health, according to the INSPQ.
The agreement between the previous government and Glencore expires in the coming months, so the Ministry of the Environment must negotiate a new arsenic emission target and renew the smelter’s certificate of compliance this fall.
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