Press release

Comments on the remarks made by the MNA for Jean-Lesage: THE PORT OF QUÉBEC SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT AND APPLAUDS AN UNPRECEDENTED COLLABORATION TO IMPROVE AIR QUALITY

Québec City, September 25, 2023 – The Port of Québec would like to correct remarks made by Jean-Lesage MNA Sol Zanetti, who said last Friday that Québec’s Minister of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks, Benoit Charette, had “supported the Port of Québec's lies in a press conference.” Mr. Zanetti's comments are inaccurate and slanderous. 

At the press conference on August 29, in the presence of Minister Benoit Charette and the Mayor of Québec City, the President and CEO of the Port of Québec stated that the Port’s sampling stations in the community had not exceeded the nickel limit for more than a year, specifically since May 2022. This information is unequivocally true. 

As part of an unprecedented collaboration initiated by Québec City's mayor, the Ville de Québec, the Port of Québec, and the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks have installed air sampling stations at different locations in the Basse-Ville and Limoilou sectors and shared the data recorded between October 14 and December 15, 2022.

This collaboration will continue and intensify in the coming years. The initiative is a priority for the Port of Québec and its partners. Partner sampling stations also detect the presence of fine particles (PM2.5), caused in particular by wood stoves and vehicle traffic, and which clearly pose the highest risk to the health of the population as mentioned by public health experts in the two scientific reports that have recently been made public.

The Port of Québec reiterates its commitment to participate in this collaborative effort and will continue to improve the information dissemination process. He also asked the member for Jean-Lesage to exercise more rigour when addressing air quality issues.

As a reminder 

1.  Two recent scientific reports on air quality in the Basse-Ville and Limoilou sectors have provided a clearer picture of the situation and identified the different sources of contaminants.

  • Groupe de travail sur les contaminants atmosphériques [working group on air contaminants] (January).
  • Mon environnement, ma santé [My Environment, My Health] by the Direction de la santé publique [public health directorate] of the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale (March).

2.  The main source of PM2.5 emissions is wood heating followed by dust from the construction sector and road-paving operations; trucking and marine transportation are also notable sources.

3.  The main emitters of total suspended particulates (TSP) and particulate matter (PM10) are largely dust from the construction and road-paving sectors.

4.  The Port of Québec is committed to working in collaboration with other stakeholders, including the Ville de Québec and the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks, to implement the recommendations made by independent experts. 

  • Some recommendations already fall within the scope of the Port of Québec's priorities and its Vision 2035, including the electrification of cruise ship docks, the electrification or hybridization of the Port’s vehicles, and the greening of its facilities and grounds.

5.  The Port of Québec supports and encourages operators located on its territory to implement rigorous practices for the handling and storage of solid bulk. 

  • The main operators in the Beauport sector are ISO-14001-accredited, a standard that aims to manage environmental impacts based on continuous improvement practices.

6.  The Port of Québec has an air quality monitoring network on its territory. 

  • This network acts as an alarm system; it makes it possible to monitor operations in an industrial environment and to react quickly when necessary.
  • Changes will be made to ensure that data from the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks enhances the capabilities of this alarm system.

7.  On its website, the Port of Québec voluntarily publishes the daily average of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), one of the priority contaminants identified by the MEMS report (Mon environnement, ma santé) and the GTCA (air contaminants work group).

  • The Port’s data is also provided to authorities

8.  With regard specifically to nickel, the Port of Québec is aware of the community’s concerns. Many improvements have been made over the past ten years and a close collaboration with Glencore continues to foster continuous improvement in operating conditions. 

  • The company has already deployed a new technology (Vision) that is now fully operational when unloading nickel concentrate. 
  • These analyses are continuing with the development of a process for closing ship holds when loading and unloading.

9.  No exceeding of the standard has been observed at the various sampling stations in the Port of Québec since May 2022.

10.  Between April 28, 2022, and April 28, 2023, the annual nickel standard of 20 ng/m3 was met. This annual average calculated at the 3e Avenue station was 7.0 ng/m3, and the annual averages for the previous two years were 7.6 ng/m3 and 4.9 ng/m3 for 2020 and 2021, respectively.

11. The Port of Québec also supports the proposed measures concerning improved monitoring mechanisms through the use of new technology and the continuous improvement of dust and fine particulate management procedures. 

This collaboration between Québec City, the Government of Québec, and the Port, initiated by Mayor Bruno Marchand, will continue to grow to the benefit of the entire population.

About Port of Québec
The Port of Québec is among Canada’s five largest ports in terms of tonnage handled and economic spinoffs. It is strategically located to serve North America’s industrial and agricultural heartland. Each year, cargo ships from or to some fifty countries call at the Port of Québec to connect the Great Lakes and Midwestern U.S. markets to the rest of the world. Twenty percent of the port’s territory, which extends from Beauport to the South Shore, is dedicated to recreational activities and tourism.

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For information: 
Frédéric Lagacé
Communications Director
Port of Québec
418 929-5031
[email protected]