“We are still quite angry. […] There is a sickness in Rouyn. »
On the phone, the spokeswoman for Mères au front de Rouyn-Noranda, Émilie Robert, made herself clear: like several other citizens and organizations in Rouyn-Noranda, she was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Minister of the Environment in town, Monday after -midday. In a press briefing, Benoit Charette is due to announce government requirements that should be imposed this fall as part of the renewal of the decontamination certificate with Glencore, owner of the foundry.
“We hope that we will have a timetable that makes sense and that we will reach the target of 3 nanograms per cubic meter (ng/m3) of arsenic very quickly,” she pleads. Last week, the national director of public health, Luc Boileau, announced that Public Health recommended reaching a concentration of 15 ng/m3a transition step that would be deemed “acceptable” on the way to meeting the Quebec standard of 3 ng/m3. Minister Charette confirmed last week that the future standard will be based “on the recommendations of Public Health”.
High expectations
In Rouyn-Noranda, the discontent continues, and expectations are as numerous as they are high. For more than three years, Valérie Fournier has been trying to mobilize the various authorities about the toxic fumes in the air of her city. In 2018, the young children of this mother took part in a biomonitoring study on the arsenic impregnation of the population of the Notre-Dame district. “My children had worrying results,” she recalls.
It was in response to these disturbing data that she co-founded the Committee for the Stopping of Toxic Discharges and Emissions of Rouyn-Noranda (ARET) in 2019. “Three years have been lost, she regrets. Since 2019, we see that there is already data, it had already been studied and it is part of our discourse that emissions are a danger for the population. »
In a letter sent Sunday to Dr Boileau and sent to Minister Charette, the ARET committee sent a series of requests concerning the government requirements for the depollution attestation which must be signed soon between the government and the foundry. This certificate is used in particular to establish parameters to limit the pollution caused by the foundry. The last certificate, signed in November 2017, expires this year.
Among the 12 demands addressed to the government are notably the achievement of the transitional target of 15 ng/m3 as early as November of this year and reaching the provincial standard of 3ng/m3 by 2027.
Another important request from the committee is that “maximum targets” per eight-hour period be set by the ministry, since “a daily average hides peaks”. In 2021, the concentration limit for arsenic in the air was 100 ng/m3. Analysis of the city’s air, however, shows that arsenic measurements exceeded 1000 ng/m3 five times between January 2017 and March 2021, as revealed The duty.
“We are very happy to see that things are finally moving”, rejoices all the same Mme Fournier.
Current research project
Jean-François Boulanger is a professor of extractive metallurgy of critical and strategic elements at the University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. In partnership with a Montreal company, he contacted the Horne foundry more than a year ago to launch a research project on the pre-treatment of materials that supply the foundry. The goal of the project is to assess whether it is possible to extract several metals, including arsenic, before they are processed by the smelter in order to reduce the quantity at source.
This process is “existing and functional” in North American cities, but “the economic justification” and the “technological challenges” are the two main obstacles to its implementation, explains Mr. Boulanger. And if the project turns out to be functional, how much would it reduce toxic fumes in the city?
“In the literature, we see about 90% reduction of arsenic in concentrates by following this process. Does this translate into a proportional reduction? It’s hard to say,” says Mr. Boulanger. Without being a miracle solution, he considers his research project as “one of the possible solutions” which is undoubtedly “longer-term”, but which could make it possible to limit the environmental damage caused by the foundry in the long term and to thus making her “an exemplary player”.
“The other copper smelters around the world also produce arsenic, but they are not located near cities,” he points out. As long as you’re in a particular niche that some would call “dirty” or something, you might as well be the best in the world at it. »
The one who is also a resident of Rouyn-Noranda nevertheless tries to see the positive in the situation which grips his city. “At the turn of the 2000s, we were talking about 1000 ng/m3 in the air,” he recalls. “The numbers show that it has changed a lot, but there is still a long way to go. »
Hot election fight
At the dawn of the provincial election campaign, the issue of the Horne smelter promises to be an unavoidable subject in the riding of Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue. This is currently represented by the solidarity Émilise Lessard-Therrien.
Like the other two speakers interviewed by The duty, Marc Nantel, spokesperson for the Vigilance Network, an organization that campaigns to improve the Mining Act and for the protection of the environment, is extremely satisfied with the work of the local MP. “I only have good words for her. A good part of the population understands that it has done a lot to maintain media attention on the issue,” he rejoices. “I seriously wish us his re-election, because with a CAQ MP, we won’t have a lot of listening in the government. »
But the fight promises to be hot. According to the most recent figures published by the Qc125 electoral projection site, it is the Coalition avenir Québec which is ahead in the riding. The party’s candidate is not yet known after the previous candidate, Claude Thibault, withdrew for “personal reasons”. The Press reported Saturday that the candidacy of a former Liberal MP for the riding, mining engineer Daniel Bernard, should be announced imminently.