In response to high arsenic emissions from the Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., the provincial environment minister is considering establishing daily emissions thresholds.

During a visit to the municipality on Wednesday, Minister Benoit Charette said the standards could be imposed on Glencore, the smelter's owner, for metals other than arsenic as well.

Dr. Claudel Naud-Bellavance was among the doctors who met with the minister.

"He brought us a draft of a much more structured plan than what had been presented so far," said Naud-Bellavance, adding that "it is still incomplete.

But she said the meeting with the minister will not alleviate the concerns of her patients.

"When there is nothing concrete, it's hard to be appeased," she said, reiterating the request of several doctors in the region who, like her, have made public appearances in recent weeks.

"We want the same air quality as elsewhere in Quebec, it's simple. And to achieve it, it's three nanograms," said Naud-Bellavance, referring to the provincial standard, which is set at three ng/m3.

The Horne smelter currently releases up to 100 nanograms of arsenic per cubic metre (100 ng/m3) into the air, 33 times the provincial standard.

"We want to protect people's health. We don't want a higher threshold, because arsenic is a non-threshold carcinogen, so as soon as we raise the threshold, we increase the risk of cancer. As a doctor, we want as few cancers as possible," said Claudel Naud-Bellavance.

The faster and more significant the reduction in arsenic emissions in Rouyn-Noranda's air, the greater the gain for public health, according to a recent report by the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ).

Jacinthe Châteauvert, president of the Conseil régional en environnement de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue (CREAT), was also present at the meeting with the Minister, which she described as cordial.

Minister Charette "did not compromise on figures, but he mentioned that he intended to ask for a significant decrease in the percentage of arsenic, without necessarily naming a threshold, and he spoke to us about putting interim targets in the certificate," she said.

According to Châteauvert, the minister floated the idea of imposing an arsenic emission threshold on Glencore that would progressively decrease each year.

This report was first published in French by The Canadian Press on July 13, 2022.