Quebec's director of public health, Dr. Luc Boileau, is heading to Rouyn-Noranda Wednesday afternoon to provide an environmental health update.
He is expected to speak at 2 p.m. alongside interim Abitibi-Témiscamingue Public Health Director Dr. Stéphane Trépanier.
Before the press conference, experts with the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) are slated to hold a technical briefing to present the data related to the update.
This will be Boileau's second visit to Rouyn-Noranda this summer, following a press briefing on July 6 to present a study by the INSPQ.
That document revealed that, for 70 years, a large number of Rouyn-Noranda residents between the ages of one and 14 could develop cancer if the company Glencore did not reduce the concentration of arsenic in the air produced by its smelter.
Arsenic emissions from the Horne Smelter have been the subject of much discussion in recent weeks.
Currently, an agreement with the government allows its emissions to reach 100 ng/m3, which is 33 times higher than the Quebec standard of three ng/m3.
The smelter and the government have acknowledged that this target must be lowered in the next agreement, but no exact threshold has been confirmed.
Monday night, Rouyn-Noranda's municipal council unanimously adopted a resolution requesting that "the Horne smelter's activities be aimed at achieving the environmental standards in effect for all heavy metals and fine particles released into the air."
This resolution is in addition to one sent on June 13, which asked for an interdepartmental action plan focused on the health of Rouyn-Noranda's residents.
The municipal council is also asking that subsequent ministerial authorizations issued to Glencore by Quebec's Environment Ministry include daily emission limits.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 10, 2022.
