Quebec City incinerator still exceeding emission standards

Carbon monoxide emissions from Quebec City's incinerator are still above the norm despite the investment of millions of dollars to improve the situation.

Data for a series of tests conducted in June found carbon monoxide results that were in some cases 12 timeshigherthan the allowable limitthat is currently in effect.

Quebec City spokesperson Mireille Plamondon said variation in testresults is a normal occurrence.

"There are variations in temperature inside the ovens depending on the waste that's being burned, generating carbon monoxide," she told Radio-Canada.

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Plamondon said a $6 million investment in the incinerator that was announced last March should take care of the problem.

Those funds will buy new propane burners to stabilize the temperature inside the incinerator's four ovens.

Quebec City has already invested around $60 million in the incinerator in a bid to reduce emissions between 2006 and 2011.

Citizen's group welcomes improvements

Yvan Ouellet, a member of a citizen's group concerned bythe incinerator, said the new improvements can't come soon enough.

"We do not yet have complete control over the emissions of carbon monoxide," he said.

Ouellet said the finding of carbon monoxide 12 times higher than the norm was caused by the low temperature of one of the furnaces when it started.

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A chemist by training, Ouellet said he is not too worried about carbon monoxide levels going above the norm.

He argues, however, that other more toxic substances like dioxins,furansand mercury could also be up if the filtration system is overloaded.

The June tests, however, found dioxins, furans and mercury levels all met the standards that are in place.

That was an improvement over test results from the fall of 2016, when Quebec City was fined $10,000 by Quebec's Environment Ministry for exceeding furan and dioxin standards.