How many times can a man turn his head away and pretend he didn’t see anything?
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
This is the question that Bob Dylan asks in his song Blowin’ in the Wind. It is also the one we are launching at the Quebec Ministry of the Environment.
In Rouyn-Noranda, the department is very reluctant to know the extent of the contamination of the land on which the citizens live. Clear signs show, however, that the levels of contaminants in the soil exceed the standards set by regulation in several places.
The culprit, you guessed it, is the Horne Foundry.
In 2019, the Abitibi-Témiscamingue Department of Public Health (DSP) randomly took soil samples from 156 residential lots and discovered that in nearly a quarter of them (33), the limits allowed for cadmium, arsenic or lead were outdated.
Disturbingly, the DSP found that the problematic land is not all located in the Notre-Dame district, which adjoins the Foundry. How is it possible ? Bob Dylan would answer that “the answer is in the wind that blows”.
The wind disperses the pollutants emitted by the foundry’s smokestacks, which eventually fall to the ground and accumulate there over the decades.
Faced with these results, the DSP recommended conducting a study throughout the city of Rouyn-Noranda in order to measure the extent of the problem. This recommendation was even made twice rather than once.
This week, the Ministry closed the door to such an analysis.
“We must consider that the priority remains the reduction of atmospheric emissions,” said the Ministry.
This answer is downright shocking.
Soil characterization is well and truly carried out under the supervision of the Horne Foundry, but only in the Notre-Dame district… although we know full well that the contamination is not limited there!
Quebec goes against the opinion of the experts here. By refusing to document the problem, does the government hope that it will not have to deal with it? We recognize the good old tactic of the ostrich putting its head in the sand.
Experts say, however, that contaminated dust lying on the ground is even more dangerous than contaminants floating in the air since it can be ingested.
The DSP report mentions risks of cancer, diabetes, skin diseases and heart problems. There is also talk of neurodevelopmental disorders, especially in children.
It’s not about scaring the world. It is simply a matter of documenting the problem, the first step in a serious approach. Citizens have the right to know what is in the soil on which they live.
In Minister Benoit Charette’s office, the tone was less categorical this week. It is now claimed that it “is not excluded” to ask the Horne Foundry to characterize the soils throughout the city.
This requirement could be part of the renewal of the ministerial authorization granted to the foundry, which governs its discharges of contaminants.
This openness may be encouraging, but let’s be clear: the Ministry must be much, much tougher. This requirement must absolutely be in the next ministerial authorization.
As for the problematic lands, they will have to be rehabilitated at the expense of the foundry. It is simply the polluter pays principle.
Ever since the problems at the Horne Foundry surfaced in the media, the Legault government has shown a sad lack of leadership.
He tried to free himself from his responsibilities by asserting that it is up to the “citizens to decide” the fate of the factory. He never sent the clear message that environmental standards will eventually have to be met. Now he looks away from a soil contamination problem.
We ask again: when will a change of attitude show that regulations are not suggestions that can be ignored by companies and that the health of citizens is a priority?