Trucks loaded with hazardous waste could soon be pouring into Blainville, QC, in great numbers. Stablex wants to expand its landfill site to bury even more toxic materials, on previously protected land, next to a residential neighborhood. The Legault government seems determined to clear the way, but a coalition of citizens could throw a wrench in the works.
Going against the wishes of elected municipal officialsw who refuse to sell the land coveted by Stablex, the CAQ government chose to impose a gag order on March 28. This authoritarian maneuver will allow the company to set up shop in the heart of Blainville's Grande tourbière.
The North Star spoke to Marie-Claude Archambault, spokesperson for the Coalition des citoyens de Blainville contre la cellule #6 de Stablex. These activists have been occupying the company's main entrance every day since the beginning of the month, following a demonstration that brought together some 1,000 citizens, workers and activists.
“It's undemocratic, completely dictatorial. When we've reached the point where we're bending our knees for a multi-billion-dollar American company, under gag order no less... Should we really be using our political bodies for this?” says Archambault, visibly outraged.
Since the government refused to help, this citizens' coalition had to analyze the land around Stablex itself, thanks to a collective effort:
“We did a citizen sampling campaign, [...] we took 10 points around Stablex. We were given a training course by a scientific specialist, Daniel Green. We were about thirty citizens, we all took samples around the area, then had them analyzed in a laboratory accredited by the Ministry of the Environment.”
The results on the 10 points analyzed: 320 times the safe level for cadmium, a carcinogenic element; 5 to 7 times the safe level for arsenic; and 13 times for lead.
“It can be found either in surface sediments, or directly in the water.” It was during these discoveries that she says she reached “an extra level of concern.”
According to Ms. Archambault, municipal water treatment plants in Quebec are not capable of capturing heavy metals. This is what the director of the Conseil des bassins versants des Milles-Iles allegedly said during the parliamentary commission that took place prior to the adoption of the bill. Blainville residents could therefore have been drinking potentially dangerous water for a long time, without knowing it.
“We're working on it, we're getting organized. Now we have resources, people are coming to us to help. [Water testing] is the next thing we're going to do. So drinking water, tap water, water wells too, because not all citizens here are connected to the aqueducts. There are some who have wells, there are a lot of farmers.”
The Blainville resident also denounces the new law's increase in air pollution standards. However, she says the government is not specifying the level. “It's like the Horne Foundry. We're Horne 2.0."
As if the CAQ and Stablex project weren't devastating enough, Marie-Claude also told The North Star that about half of the waste accumulated in Blainville won't come from Quebec or Canada:
“50% of it comes from the United States. You have to know that in the United States, they are very, very strict about waste management of toxic and hazardous materials. Companies are held responsible for their waste for life, and for what it does to the environment. So, it's easy for them: they come here to drop it off and then wash their hands of it. And that's the responsibility of our government here.”
“So, we're here every morning to put pressure on Stablex, to annoy them. We're here to show them that we're watching them, that we've got our eye on them now. So they won't go unnoticed like they have for the last 40 years.”