The controversial Horne Foundry, owned by multinational Glencore, will invest $500 million to reduce its pollutant emissions to meet the target of 15 nanograms of arsenic in the air within five years.
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La Fonderie announced its game plan this morning to meet that cap required by the Environment Department, which was following public health recommendations.
This new limit is almost seven times lower than the current standard, which allows the smelter to release up to 100 nanograms of arsenic per cubic meter into the air.
“The investments we are planning will make the Horne Smelter one of the world’s lowest-emission copper smelters,” said Claude Bélanger, Glencore’s Head of North American Copper Operations.
New processes
To that end, the company will build a new “state of the art” part of the factory and review the copper transformation processes, in what the foundry calls the PHENIX project.
The facility will also have a new system to capture dust and fugitive emissions and establish a safe zone to protect the Notre-Dame neighborhood immediately in front of the facilities.
Glencore will also make temporary improvements to gradually reduce its emissions over the next few years and reach 15 nanograms of arsenic in air by 2027.