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Illegal PCB storage site
Pointe-Claire takes note of Ministry’s commitment to ensure close monitoring of the work
Morris Trudeau, mayor of the City of Pointe-Claire, takes note of the announcement by Mr. David Heurtel, Minister of Sustainable Development, the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change (MDDELCC), that he will ensure close monitoring of the work to be undertaken by Just Invest Inc. to rehabilitate the former polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) storage site on Hymus Boulevard, and to characterize adjacent lots and see to their decontamination, if necessary.
“What’s important to us is that the site, and adjacent lots if necessary, should be completely rehabilitated as the government promised in 2013 when the illegal PCB storage was discovered,” says Mayor Trudeau. “We’ve worked with the Ministry ever since that time to protect residents’ health and safety, and we will continue to do so.”
Minister Heurtel announced this afternoon that the firm Just Invest Inc. has submitted a plan for rehabilitating the site and characterizing the soil and water of adjacent lots that meets the requirements of the Ministerial Order he issued last February. The Minister therefore cancelled the two calls for tenders launched on July 4 to carry out the work instead of Just Invest Inc. The company must undertake the characterization of the lots adjacent to the site this summer, with work continuing into the fall. In January, a rehabilitation plan will have to be submitted for the site and contaminated adjacent lots.
“We take note of Minister Heurtel’s determination to ensure the work will be carried out as required by the Ministerial Order and to provide close monitoring of the work,” says the mayor. “For us, as for the Minister, the most important thing is to ensure the health and safety of Pointe-Claire residents. Any danger of environmental catastrophe was eliminated in January 2014 when hazardous materials were removed from the site. What’s left now is to repair the environmental damage to the site, as the Ministry has committed to doing.”
It should be noted that Montréal’s public health department, the Direction régionale de santé publique, has stated that the presence of contaminated soil does not pose a health risk for residents who live nearby or for employees of companies located on adjacent lots.
Information : 514 630-1200, communications@pointe-claire.ca