Criticized from all sides for its expansion project endorsed by the Legault government, hazardous waste treatment company Stablex hit back on Monday, claiming to be a victim of misinformation.
Blainville Mayor Liza Poulin is demanding a meeting with Premier François Legault by Tuesday to stop the project and make him listen to reason, she said.
In a news release, the company said it wanted to “set the record straight” on “several misrepresentations,” saying that its process is safe and that there is no alternative.
The project is making great strides, even though it was rejected by the BAPE (the provincial environment review agency).
Quebec tabled Bill 93 last Thursday, to expropriate the town in order to cede land to the Stablex company, which handles hazardous materials from the United States.
In a letter sent to the premier’s office and obtained by Canadian Press, Mayor Liza Poulin accused Legault of setting a dangerous precedent that will encourage other companies to demand this kind of privileged treatment.
The mayor also accused the premier of breaking his commitment to preserving municipal autonomy by tabling a project that, in her view, flouts the will of the municipality and its citizens, as well as metropolitan regulations.
A ‘security’ procedure
For its part, Stablex said that its process is “safe” and “meets the strictest environmental standards.”
The mayor is therefore calling on the premier, she writes, to ensure that “the public’s point of view” on the preservation of natural environments is heard.
“It’s time for you to listen to reason on this issue,” she warned.
She wants to protect the Grande Tourbière de Blainville, a wetland that would be affected by the expansion.
“The site identified for the new cell is not a national park: it is a zoned industrial site currently leased by the city to a company that has used it as an explosives storage site since the Second World War,” replied Stablex.
The land sought by Stablex includes nine hectares of wetlands and 58 hectares of woodland.
According to the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE), this is a natural environment of exceptional quality, home to special-status plants, amphibians and reptiles.
In a decision handed down in September 2023, BAPE recommended that the project not be authorized.
An interim control by-law (RCI) is in effect on this land, making it a territory protected by the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM).
Quebec is offering the city $17,002,580 in compensation.
The government owns a neighboring lot, but it’s not as large as the one owned by Blainville, so this solution has been ruled out.
The larger plot of land that the government wants to offer Stablex would enable it to continue its activities for the next 40 years, rather than just 20 years with a smaller plot.
According to the Minister of Natural Resources, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, who is piloting the bill, the situation is critical for the company and we must move forward.
“All scenarios have been evaluated, and the one advocated by the government is the best,” she pleaded in the House.
She suggested that Quebec would face reprisals if it blocked the import of hazardous waste from the United States. She pointed out that Quebec exports four times more hazardous waste than it imports.
However, the BAPE has data to the contrary.
In its report on the Stablex project, it stated that “even if the MELCCFP database does not provide a precise picture of the quantities imported and exported,” it can be seen “that imports gravitate around an annual average of 302,201 tonnes from 2019 to 2021 compared with an average of 183,918 tonnes for exports.”
The Stablex industrial waste treatment center currently comprises a treatment plant and five landfill cells.
Wastes treated by Stablex include residual hazardous materials, contaminated soils and non-hazardous materials with properties of environmental concern.
These wastes come, for example, from the mining and pharmaceutical industries.
Some of it is imported from the United States and other Canadian provinces.
The company intends to create a sixth landfill cell on land owned by the City of Blainville.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 3, 2025.
By Patrice Bergeron
