Schoolyard in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., was covered in arsenic dust: Environment Ministry report

The City of Rouyn-Noranda is demanding answers from the Horne Foundry, the Environment Ministry and public health officials after children of Notre-Dame-de-Protection school were exposed to arsenic dust for more than 10 days without anyone intervening.

A report by the Environment Ministry obtained by Radio–Canada showed that dust carried by the wind in March contained a high concentration of arsenic, cadmium, nickel and lead. Two samples taken from the school had high levels of contamination.

Mayor Diane Dallaire said she is very concerned about the presence of arsenic and several other heavy metals in the elementary school playground.

She said she called an emergency meeting with the Horne Foundry, public health and the Environment Ministry Thursday morning.

"We're not going to accept that the safety of our children is at stake," she said. "That's why we're acting quickly."

Public health seeks to reassure parents

The regional public health department tried to reassure parents of children attending Notre-Dame-de-Protection in the following days, saying that the dust fallout was "limited and diffuse" and that the situation did not justify keeping children indoors.

Following Radio-Canada's reporting, the director of regional public health, Dr. Stéphane Trépanier, maintains that the students' risk of exposure was limited.

He said he believes all the copper concentrate dust was greatly diluted in the snow, meaning there were no significant health risks.

"The risk did not justify an intervention that would have prevented the children from going to recess," he said. Still, he said it was important to have the snow removed from the yard, which is why public health and the Environment Ministry recommended that it be removed.

Marc Olivier, a professor and researcher at the Centre de transfert technologique en écologie industrielle of Université de Sherbrooke, believes that the Environment Ministry should intervene.

"If you have significant contamination by metals on the ground and you have children who are in regular contact with it, it is public health's role to intervene and decide what corrections must be put in place," he said.

"I expect a firm decision would be to immediately block contact between children and contaminated soils."

School service centre defends decision

In March, the Centre de services scolaire de Rouyn-Noranda (CSSRN) told parents there was no need to worry.

"We checked with public health to see if there was any issue. And at that time, with the data they had, there were no particular issues, hence the decision to keep recess," said CSSRN director Yves Bédard.

But parents of students attending the school are concerned that they did not receive more information.

"It worries me a lot, and I find it really outrageous," said Aline Dunoyer, a mother of a seven-year-old student. "The amount of information, which we are entitled to expect as parents, was not respected at all in this case."

Nadia Nolet, who has two children attending Notre-Dame-de-Protection, said she is considering leaving the neighbourhood because of the incident.

"These are decisions that are difficult and heartbreaking. We are worried about our children and their health," she said.

No concentrate reached school, Horne Foundry says

Leaders of the Horne Foundry say they carried out their own snow analyses at Notre-Dame-de-Protection school.

Their results show a low presence of copper, iron and sulfur in the samples, which led the smelter to conclude that when the wind blew the copper concentrate, it did not reach the schoolyard on March 7.

The presence of arsenic and other contaminants could be explained rather by atmospheric emissions from the Horne Smelter.

"March 7 was a day with strong winds blowing from the foundry into the neighborhood. It was a day with more arsenic in the ambient air," said Marie-Élise Viger, the environmental director for copper operations at Glencore for North America, which owns the smelter.

For each sample, the Horne Foundry took snow to determine the amount of dust deposited on a square metre of surface. The snow sample was then melted to remove the water, then the residual dust was analyzed in the laboratory.

"This means that it was a very concentrated sample of dust. We cannot therefore scientifically compare these results to the limits prescribed in the ground," the company said in a statement.

Reactions from the National Assembly

In Quebec City, opposition parties are once again asking the government to be tougher on the Horne Foundry.

"This is very, very serious, because for too long our children have been exposed to chemicals that are harmful to their health at levels that are abnormally high," Alejandra Zaga Mendez, Québec Solidaire MNA and her party's environment critic, said.

Joël Arseneau of the Parti Québecois said he has lost confidence in the Horne Foundry.

"We wonder how far we can trust the company when it reassures people by saying that there are no contaminants in its dust stored outside the foundry and that tests by the Environment Ministry carried out a few weeks later show high concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, nickel and lead," he said.