Concerned about the 1,500 jobs at risk, the United Steelworkers Union stressed the importance of investing in the Horne Foundry in Rouyn-Noranda to reduce arsenic emissions while a standoff is underway between its owner Glencore and Quebec.
• Also read: Arsenic Emissions: The Horne Foundry sets its investment conditions
“Too much has been neglected for too long, so now we have to work harder. But we must find a way to preserve this important battery manufacturing and recycling sector,” emphasized Stéphane Côté, president of local chapter 6887, which represents the 375 workers at the Montreal-East copper refinery.
This refinery sources its raw materials from the Horne Foundry and is therefore an integral part of the battery sector, both in terms of its production and recycling.
Glencore would no longer be safe to invest in this Rouyn-Noranda factory to reduce arsenic emissions, which must fall to 3 nm/m3 by 2027, Radio-Canada learned from an internal memo from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
It was then mentioned that Horne Foundry was at “high risk” of closure. According to the media, the costs for modernizing the factory would have increased from 500 to 750 million US dollars.
- Listen to the interview with Diane Dallaire, Mayor of Rouyn-Noranda, with Mario Dumont on QUB:
The Horne Foundry then quickly indicated that it was willing to invest in a new technology only if Quebec gave it guarantees about its operating conditions.
“We are rolling out a beautiful red carpet with more than $7 billion in public investment in the development of the battery sector with Northvolt. It would be irresponsible to give up the capacity to source copper for manufacturing and subsequent recycling,” reacted For his part, the Quebec director of the Steelworkers, Dominic Lemieux.
“We are not asking the government to sacrifice the health of the population in the name of the economy. The government has a dual responsibility: to protect the health of the population and the economic health of communities,” he added.