The Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, confirmed on Wednesday that he will soon make public the information concerning the 89 companies authorized to pollute beyond environmental standards, including the Horne Foundry in Rouyn-Noranda.
“We will quickly publish this list and the information that is desired such as the number of companies, the nature of the overrun [des normes] and what is expected of them,” said Minister Charette.
The latter therefore undertook to submit “the entire list” of companies specifying what the authorizations are, after Radio-Canada broadcast the identity of the 89 companies in question on Wednesday.
These are mainly mines, but also paper mills and aluminum smelters. “We never retained that list, defended Mr. Charette. We were asked for it, we communicate it. »
The Minister also affirmed that there will henceforth be public consultations when a company’s pollution permit – called the decontamination certificate – expires. This is also the case this fall for the Horne Foundry in Rouyn-Noranda. A public consultation will be held online between September 6 and October 20.
Earlier this week, the government said it wanted to force the company to limit its air arsenic emissions to 15 nanograms per cubic meter (ng/m3), but only in 5 years, when its next certificate expires. The Quebec standard is 3 ng/m3.
Mr. Charette maintained that he wanted to ensure that each of the companies is approaching the environmental standard in force. ” It will not be [tout] at the same pace,” he admitted.
According to the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, the standards are changing and the key is to “give companies time to comply”. He stressed that each of the companies is “a specific case”.
So you can’t all compare them to the Horne Foundry, which is “undoubtedly” an issue, Mr. Fitzgibbon argued. “Nobody is going to die, we must not generalize”, he launched, about the 88 other companies.
“Unacceptable” pollution permits, according to QS
Earlier Wednesday, Quebec Solidarity (QS) MP Sol Zanetti called “unacceptable” the fact that 89 companies hold permits allowing them to derogate from Quebec environmental standards.
If the political formation of Mr. Zanetti is brought to power, it undertakes to make public the certificates of sanitation of companies. Québec solidaire says it wants to review the certificates that are too permissive. “Companies that abuse will be brought to heel,” said co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
According to the supportive MP, the Horne Foundry file brings forward the importance of the issue of air pollution at the national level. Sol Zanetti drew a parallel with the air quality in Limoilou, Quebec. “The question of people’s health, more than ever, cannot be compromised,” he said.
Sol Zanetti urged Prime Minister François Legault to cancel the increase in the nickel standard decreed on April 28. This new limit raised the authorities’ tolerance threshold from 14 to 70 ng/m3 per day. “I want him [l’annule] now, before the election, he said. I don’t want it to be an election issue. »
The supportive MP argued that the toxicological study on which the government’s decision is based was not made with the same type of nickel as the one found in Quebec. The Quebec Association of Physicians for the Environment has pointed out that this kind of nickel has a more dangerous potential for health, Zanetti said.
Asked about the request to cancel the new nickel standard, Minister Charette replied that “studies have been extensively done”. “Our decision is overwhelmingly supported by evidence,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Parti Québécois (PQ) proposed a “comprehensive approach” to air quality. In particular, it is a question of expanding and strengthening the network of public sensors.
The PQ also proposes to make public the results of sampling so that the population knows in real time the state of the quality of the air.