The Horne Foundry risks having to considerably limit its arsenic emissions following a public health notice unveiled on Wednesday, confirmed the Minister of the Environment without advancing on the new threshold that will be required.
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“The Foundry must comply with what will be required so as not to compromise the health of the population”, declared Wednesday the Minister of the Environment Benoit Charette, on leaving the Council of Ministers, specifying that he had no not yet had time to read the public health notice in detail.
It recommends a transition threshold that would allow the Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda to release 15 nanograms of arsenic per cubic meter into the air (ng/m3), a figure which remains however five times higher than the Quebec standard. Currently, the company has an acquired right that allows it to emit up to 100 ng/m3 per year.
“If it is a request from public health, you will understand with the logic of not compromising people’s health that it will be a reference value on our side”, assured Benoît Charette, who nevertheless did not want to confirm. that the standard set in the new certificate will be 15 ng/m3.
The addition of a daily standard, interim targets and sensors measuring air quality are other elements that will “probably be formalized” in the next government certificate, added the minister, who still does not exclude the scenario of the closure of the plant, if it does not comply with government requirements.
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Temporary standard
The threshold of 15 ng/m3 put forward by Public Health is in fact a “temporary standard” that the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) proposes to put into practice “as quickly as possible”, until so that the Foundry can reach the current Quebec standard set at 3 ng/m3.
“It is a rigorous, serious, protective threshold and we are very confident to submit it here, in a road which must go towards the three. At this level, we will have the expected, desired and required protection for the entire population,” said Dr.r Luc Boileau, national director of public health for Quebec, at a press briefing on Wednesday. He also acknowledged that the current situation is “not acceptable”.
Glencore reacts
In a written statement, the management of the Horne Foundry said Wednesday “sensitive” to the concerns of the citizens of Rouyn-Noranda, and “more than ever determined to minimize […] government footprint” of the company.
She is reportedly currently working on a “major transformation” project that would allow the Foundry to be more efficient. Glencore also expects to unveil a comprehensive action plan in the coming days to address the concerns raised so far.
Cancer
The temporary limit of 15 ng/m3 would reduce by four times the probability of developing lung cancer in the region, for a risk of 3 cases per 100,000 people over an exposure of 70 years.
“This is a first step to achieve. Achieving the standard, which is located at 3 ng/m3, is always the objective for us. We expect that these levels that we are proposing will be taken into account in the pursuit of the steps that the government is taking with the Foundry,” insisted the Dr Boileau.
The current risk is 12.3 cases per 100,000 people, whereas it would be 2 in 100,000 with the standard of 3 ng/m3.
This limit would also protect children from harmful effects on development, whereas too high a concentration of arsenic can cause them to decrease by one point in the intelligence quotient during their early development.
No deadline
However, no timetable has been set for reaching this temporary ceiling or for reaching the national standard, Public Health is content to indicate that these targets should be met “as quickly as possible”.
“Honestly, we don’t know. We believe, with the exchanges to which we are exposed between the government and the company, that substantial, very expensive and very complex efforts must be put forward to reduce this step by step,” admitted the Dr Boileau.
He nevertheless said he was “confident” that it could be done in “hasty” times, while recognizing that the situation could not change in just a few weeks or a few months.
In a document obtained by Radio-Canada last July, the company had however indicated that by 2027, it could at best reach a ceiling of 20 ng/m3, taking into account its technological and financial capacities.
The INSPQ did not take into account the capabilities of the company, instead proposing its threshold under the effects on the health of the population, in order to protect it.
“We are not metallurgists or engineers. We recognize that there are important issues, and we understand that efforts are led by the government to ensure that everything that can be done will be done,” said the Dr Boileau.
As a reminder, last June, Radio-Canada revealed that in 2019 the Dr Horacio Arruda, who was then national director of public health, had prevented the dissemination of data on lung cancer, the risks of which would be higher in Rouyn-Noranda. The Horne Foundry is widely held to be responsible for this situation.