Horne Foundry News Today

A local band accused Alienfest of rescinding an invitation to perform because of its criticism of an arsenic-emitting copper smelter.

Opposition parties in Quebec City are urging the government to react to reports that Glencore is considering closing the Horne smelter if investments to meet air quality targets are too high.

The plaintiffs contend the foundry "emitted into the environment a cocktail of toxic and carcinogenic contaminants."

A law firm says it plans to file a class action suit in Quebec Superior Court against multinational Glencore, which owns the Horne Foundry, and the provincial government.

The Mères au front collective wants the CAQ government to withdraw the plants operating permit, citing its emissions of arsenic.

The rain didnt stop some 30 people from the Meres au Front collective from demonstrating in Montreal on Saturday afternoon to call on Francois Legaults government to withdraw the permit granted to the multinational Glencore to operate the Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Abitibi-Temiscamingue.

This summer, Horne Foundry will begin a new phase of land decontamination in the Notre-Dame district of Rouyn-Noranda, in Quebecs Abitibi-Temiscamingue region.

Parents of students at Notre-Drame-de-Protection elementary school are decrying the administration's lack of transparency about their children's exposure to arsenic dust.

Analyses carried out by the Ministry of the Environment on samples of metal dust on the grounds of a school in Rouyn-Noranda after an incident that occurred a few weeks ago at the Horne Foundry show an arsenic content 137 times higher than the limit set in Quebec. On March 7, Rouyn-Noranda citizens shared photos of "black snow" on social networks.

The results of tests conducted on soil around Notre-Dame de Protection elementary school showed an arsenic rate of 4130 milligrams per kilogram - 137 times the limit for the presence of arsenic in soil around residential properties in Quebec.