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Illegal PCB storage
Final step soon to be completed as site is rehabilitated
The final step will soon be complete in the matter of the former illegal polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) storage site in Pointe-Claire, as contaminated lots are fully rehabilitated under the authority of the Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques (MDDELCC).
“This is a major step for us because it will definitively end this whole nasty business,” says Mayor Morris Trudeau. “The worst of it is over, and the site, as pointed out by the Direction régionale de santé publique (DRSP), does not pose any kind of health risk for citizens. However, it is crucial to finish the job and not leave the site abandoned, as so often happens in similar circumstances. The government’s determination is to be commended in this respect.”
A recent three-way meeting among City officials, the Ministère and the DRSP made it possible to determine the steps to be carried out. “As mayor, I want to inform the public of these latest developments,” says Mayor Trudeau.
The MDDELCC reiterates that all illegally stored hazardous materials have been eliminated from the site since January 2014 and reasserts that it intends to carry out the decontamination work itself, in full compliance with court rulings in this matter, if the companies targeted by the Ministerial Order fail to do so.
The DRSP maintains that since the hazardous materials have been removed, the site poses no health risk, either for residents living nearby or for workers of companies located on adjacent lots.
“We are approaching the final stage,” says the mayor. “We fought from 1985 to 2002, going all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, to prevent storage of harmful substances on our territory. The owner nonetheless acted illegally, jeopardizing the health and safety of our citizens. We are as determined today as we always have been. These hazardous products were, are, and always will be prohibited.”
Information: 514-630-1200, communications@pointe-claire.ca