Nickel in Limoilou: Glencore wants to reveal the data

The station has been installed since 2015 on the rooftop of a building on 2nd Avenue, on 4th Street. Hence it is at the center of the prevailing winds coming from the port of Quebec, where Glencore’s transit nickel is extracted from the Raglan mine in Nunavík.

While sharing this data has opposed ending inadmissibility on the part of the miner in the past, the company says today it has changed its stance.

We intend to share the station’s data in the community. It is already in discussion with the Ministry of Environment and it is taking its courseconfirms Amelie Rouleau, director of public relations and communications at the Raglan mine. Like any business, we weigh the pros and cons, and we get there.

It is currently impossible to know whether Glencore will share all of the data collected since the establishment of the air quality sampling station. This is under discussion with the MinistryMrs. Rollo says.

Glencore has nickel transshipment facilities in the port of Quebec, in the Pays de Beauporte region.

Photo: Radio Canada/Hugo Botheer

“Witch Hunt”

Last February, when the Quebec government was about to reduce the level of nickel emitted into the surrounding air, Glencore lamented being a victim. witch hunting.

The company has always denied that it is a source of nickel emissions, although it has been shown that residents of Limoilo breathe more nickel than the rest of the population. It is demanding tens of millions of dollars in investment for its facilities in the capital and ensures that all its activities are carried out under cover.

According to Glencore, the previous standard, set at 14 nanograms per cubic meter, was sent over 24 hours A false signal in the population that their health may be at risk. And so the miner’s lobbyists have advocated downgrading the standard for several years.

The daily standard finally rose to 70 nanograms per cubic meter this year, with authorization from the Ministry of Environment and Combating Climate Change (MELCC).

Station network

In addition to Glencore, the Port of Quebec (APQ) already broadcasts data from two installed stations in the community, which have also been around since 2015. One is located on 8th Avenue, a little north of 18th Street, and the other is on Maizerets, on Ave. De Vitre.

Raglan mine in nunavik.

Photo: screenshot

The data will be added to those collected as part of several ongoing analyzes of ambient air quality in Limoelo and Lower Quebec. Quebec City, APQ and MELCCC It agreed, at the beginning of June, to improve the network of sampling stations.

Glencore was not part of this initiative.

The city has to install three temporary stations while the port lends an additional mobile station. Municipal administration is In the technical verification stage With the ministry in order to validate the selected sites. MELCC added a station on Vitré Street, in Maizerets. The latter is functional but won’t start reading until later this fall.