PCB spill in Point-Claire
Today we learned that the Journal de Montréal conducted soil tests on the lots surrounding the site of the spill. These tests revealed dangerous PCB levels in the soil.
For almost 15 years, the government of Québec, the West Island members of the national assembly, the ministry of the environment as well as the city of Pointe-Claire have known that the company Reliance was illegally storing PCBs at their Hymus Boulevard location. In March of 2013 there was a major PCB spill that the public only learned of six months later. Decontamination operations began in the fall of that year.
In the summer of 2014, Pointe-Claire municipal employees found PCBs in the nearby sewers. This was not surprising because the City of Montreal had already detected PCB contamination in Lac Saint Louis.
Instead of facing this important issue and hiring a firm to do the testing, the city of Pointe-Claire decided to hire a public relations firm to kill the story.
Today, the Journal de Montreal revealed that no government agency had tested soil on the neighboring lots. This fact underscores the level of complete incompetence in the ministry of environment with respect to contaminated sites.
The Green Party of Quebec calls on the minister of the environment and the Pointe-Claire municipal council to take their responsibilities and protect the health of both the local citizens and the environment.
Alex Tyrrell
Leader of the Green Party of Québec
Source: http://bit.ly/1S2AoOp
