Contamination from copper smelting plant in Que. town could extend beyond buffer zone

Fonderie Horne, a foundry owned by Glencore, is seen in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., Oct. 29, 2022. An announcement this week that some 200 families would be relocated from a Rouyn-Noranda neighbourhood contaminated by smelter pollution was met with anxiety and concern for those who'll be moved out. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephane Blais

Contamination from pollutants emitted by the Horne smelter could reach areas larger than the expropriation perimeter, according to the group Mères au front, which presented the results of a new study on Friday in Montreal.

Around 30 citizens in Rouyn-Noranda collected snow accumulated between November 2022 and March 2023 in the neighbourhoods around the Horne smelter in Abitibi.

They then had the snow analyzed by Véritas, a certified laboratory, on behalf of Mères au Front.

According to Daniel Green, an environmental consultant who took part in the press conference organized by Mères au Front on Friday morning, "the pollutant fallout zone is larger than the zone just south of the smelter that delimits the expropriation buffer zone" announced by the Quebec government in March 2023.

He explained that the pollutants contained in the snowpack revealed "high levels" of arsenic, cadmium, nickel and lead in four sectors of the city.

"When we're talking about a concentration of around 20 to 35 milligrams per square metre, that's where the probability of exceeding the ground level standard is encountered," said Green. "It cannot be said that the quantities of pollutants found in the snow exceed the standards because there is no threshold for metal concentrations in snow. So we need to do some modelling."

Green is calling for a "snow standard" in the same way as there are soil and air standards for contaminants such as arsenic, cadmium and lead.

Snow preserves 'the history of contamination'

According to Green, "pollutants emitted by the foundry in winter fall and accumulate on snow-covered surfaces, unlike in other seasons, when rain and wind can wash away and lift soils and polluting particles."

So, in his opinion, "a snow standard would be more representative of the fallout from the foundry" than soil or air sampling.

"Air samples are punctual," whereas samples taken from the ground "are less representative" because the pollutants can be blown away by the wind.

Snow, according to the biologist, "preserves pollutants" and "even the history of contamination," thanks to the "different strata," or layers of snow.

Pollutants linked to cancer risk

At its presentation in Montreal on Friday, the Mères au Front group spoke about a number of conclusions drawn from a biomonitoring study carried out by Public Health in Rouyn-Noranda in 2019.

The data show that the average lead level in the bodies of children in the Notre-Dame neighbourhood, where the smelter is located, is above the Canadian average.

Also, arsenic concentrations in the fingernails of residents of this neighbourhood are, on average, 3.7 times higher than those observed in the population of Amos, a town in the region.

They also pointed out that high concentrations of arsenic can increase the risk of cancer.

In the summer of 2022, a Quebec Institute of Public Health (INSPQ) report revealed that, over a period of 70 years, an excess number of Rouyn-Noranda residents, between one and 14, would develop cancer if Glencore did not reduce the concentration of arsenic in the air produced by the smelter.

In March 2023, the government required the Horne smelter to put in place a plan that would enable it to meet the target of 15 nanograms per cubic metre (ng/m3) of arsenic from 2027, which, if the smelter meets the target, would be five times higher than the environmental standard of 3 ng/m3.

Last spring, the government also required the company to submit an action plan by 2027, to eventually meet the 3 ng/m3 standard.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 9, 2024.