Only eight industrial establishments are authorized to derogate from Quebec regulations concerning the release of contaminants into the environment, but they do not necessarily do so, Quebec said on Friday.
Updated yesterday at 5:53 p.m.
“In almost all cases, overruns [autorisés] are minimal,” said senior officials from the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change (MELCC), during a technical briefing for the media.
This clarification was intended to put an end to the confusion that reigns over the nature of the 89 “ministerial authorizations” governing industrial establishments that generate contaminants.
Some media recently claimed that these authorizations allowed the establishments concerned to derogate from the standards in force, an erroneous interpretation that the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, himself admitted to having fueled.
Sixty-nine ministerial authorizations impose on their beneficiary “more severe or similar” requirements to the regulations applicable in Quebec, 12 concern establishments that are no longer in operation and the remaining eight allow exemptions; they all concern companies born before the entry into force of the Clean Air Regulation (RAA).
Fine particles, nitrogen oxides and arsenic
The Horne Foundry in Rouyn-Noranda is the “most salient” exception, recognizes the MELCC: the company belonging to the multinational Glencore is authorized to exceed by a factor of 33 the Quebec standard on the concentration of arsenic in the air.
Next is Elkem Métal Canada, located in Saguenay, which is authorized to generate an annual average of fine particles of 244 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3), more than 8 times the Quebec limit of 30 µg/m3.
It is also subject to a limit of 456 µg/m3 for total particles, which is almost four times more than the Quebec limit of 120 µg/m3.
The WestRock plant in La Tuque can emit twice as many nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the air than allowed by Quebec legislation, i.e. 828 µg/m3 instead of 414 µg/m3as well as various other contaminants (see table).
Compliance with the limits imposed on these companies is verified by planned and unplanned inspections, explains the MELCC, which says it carries out 27,000 to 28,000 annually.
In Temiscaming, the Tembec plant is not subject to any limit for its sulfur dioxide (SO2) and its emissions of fine particles, but the MELCC intends to take advantage of the renewal of its ministerial authorization, which is in progress, to impose them.
shadow zone
The MELCC affirms that the eight establishments authorized to pollute beyond Quebec standards do not necessarily do so.
However, he acknowledges that he does not know whether they actually exceed Quebec standards, with the exception of the two Saguenay plants of Rio Tinto Alcan which are on the list and the Nordic Kraft paper pulp plant in Lebel-sur-Quévillon. .
Another nebulous point remains: the ministerial authorization of the Nordic Kraft factory stipulates that the regulations in force take precedence over the document, which therefore means that it is not authorized to exceed the standards, pleads the company.
It’s completely mind-boggling to manage to create such confusion.
Frédéric Verreault, general manager of corporate development for Chantiers Chibougamau and owner of the Nordic Kraft plant
He claims to have pointed out this inconsistency to the MELCC, which told him to share his interpretation.
The MELCC did not respond to requests for clarification from The Press at the time of this writing.
Another gray area: when the MELCC affirms that certain industrial establishments are authorized to exceed Quebec standards, it seems to be speaking only of contaminants whose discharges are marked out by their ministerial authorization.
However, in fact, these establishments sometimes reject a multitude of other contaminants, and nothing indicates that these do not exceed the limits set by Quebec regulations.
This is the case, for example, of the Horne Foundry: the MELCC only mentions the exceeding of the Quebec standard on the concentration of arsenic in the air and says nothing about its emissions of lead, cadmium and many other metalloids. which are not framed by his ministerial authorization.
With the collaboration of Tristan PéloquinThe Press
What is a ministerial authorization?
Ministerial authorizations (previously called decontamination certificates) regulate discharges from industrial establishments that generate contaminants. “It’s like a regulation made to measure for a company, it’s a legal tool”, summarizes a senior official from the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change. Ministerial authorizations are thus intended to gradually reduce contaminant discharges from establishments to bring them into compliance with standards, in the case of companies created before the regulations came into force. In some cases, they also aim to induce the institutions subject to it to do better than the standards in force, in a process of continuous improvement. The Quebec government gradually imposed and regulated two sectors of activity: first the pulp and paper industry in 1993 (the first certificates were issued in 2000), then the mineral industry and primary processing of metals, in 2002.