The Horne Foundry has proposed to the Legault government that the new arsenic emissions cap be 60 nanograms per cubic meter (ng/m3), or 20 times the provincial standard.

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Quebec deemed this ceiling too high, and would have asked the company to revise it downwards.

“We asked the company to go back to the drawing board and offer us a solution with a lower threshold than the one proposed. Glencore must therefore propose an amendment to us soon, ”the Prime Minister’s Office told TVA.

"We will then be able to analyze their new proposal and we can then let it be known publicly whether this standard meets our expectations," it added.

The Quebec standard for arsenic emissions is currently 3 ng/m3, but the smelter currently has an acquired right to pollute set at 100 ng/m3, under the government certificate for the period from 2017 to 2022.

In 2021, the annual arsenic emissions from the smelter that were identified were 87 ng/m3, according to our information.