The Ministry of the Environment has opened a criminal investigation into the activities of the businesses of businessman Joé Miller, manager of an ecocenter in Mirabel. Recent inspections have revealed the illegal burial of residues in agricultural zones, but also the release of contaminants into the environment.
At the end of August, the Ministry of the Environment sent notices of non-compliance to the companies of Laval businessman Joé Miller — Gestion Miller and Sterling Recycling Service (SRS) — after noting breaches of the Mirabel ecocenter, in the Saint-Canut sector.
SRS is responsible for the operation of one of Mirabel’s four ecocenters. Each year, nearly 4,300 residents of the municipality dump 1,250 metric tons of residual materials, according to municipal data.
Inspectors from the Ministry of the Environment noted the “unauthorized establishment and operation of a waste disposal facility”, as revealed The duty in June. By email, the ministry also confirmed having observed the release of a “contaminant into the environment beyond the determined quantity or concentration”.
“The file was entrusted to the Ministry’s Investigation Department in order to accumulate the necessary evidence for criminal prosecution,” it was added.
The ministry ensures “close monitoring”: “No recourse planned […] is not excluded in this file. The ministry will not make further comments so as not to prejudice the ongoing investigation. »
The Commission for the Protection of Agricultural Land of Quebec (CPTAQ) has also taken steps to stop the backfilling activities of residual materials in agricultural zones carried out by SRS. An order was sent to businesses at the end of July to force a halt to non-compliant activities. The CPTAQ’s notice confirms that a recent investigation noted that part of a maple grove cut without authorization, at the rear of the site, “was backfilled with residual materials […] over an area of 1.35 hectares.
Sterling Recycling Service did not respond to the email from Duty.