The Commission for the Protection of Agricultural Territory of Quebec (CPTAQ) is bringing out the heavy artillery to find out what has been buried without authorization on agricultural land located behind an ecocenter in Mirabel. The guardian of Quebec’s arable land is forcing Sterling Recycling Service (SRS), owner of the site, to dig deep trenches to check what is there.
Following a meeting with representatives of the company last February, the CPTAQ sent a report to SRS in which it asked to dig, by April 26, 2024, “10 exploratory trenches” on a filled area of 14.72 hectares, the equivalent of nearly 30 American football fields. These trenches must be at least four meters deep and stretch over a length of at least five meters. The objective: to know the materials that were used as backfill.
Remember that in Quebec, backfilling in agricultural land must be done with good quality cultivable soil. The green light from the CPTAQ is also necessary. In this case, the commission did not grant any authorization.
The trenches must be dug “in the presence of a professional from the commission”, and SRS will have to pay for the work, specified the CPTAQ in Duty by email.
The company owned by businessman Joé Miller did not respond to our interview requests.
In June 2023, The duty revealed that SRS was backfilling agricultural land located behind its sorting center in the Saint-Canut sector of Mirabel with demolition debris, construction residue and pieces of plastic and glass. Images taken using a drone confirmed the embankment work carried out; In particular, we saw a bulldozer dumping residue in a grove located near a stream.
The next day, the CPTAQ opened an investigation, declaring that it was “greatly concerned by the information and images that were broadcast.” A month later, the Commission sent an order to the company to stop the work. She then accused him of having carried out without authorization “backfilling work, the burying of residual materials and various debris as well as the storage of debris and concrete” behind the ecocenter. She also claimed to have noted that the part of a maple grove cut down without authorization, at the rear of the site, had “been backfilled with residual materials”.
Also in the sights of Quebec
The Quebec Ministry of the Environment has also opened an investigation to shed light on the company’s activities. Inspections carried out to date have revealed the illegal burial of residues in agricultural areas, but also the release of contaminants into the environment. “The ministry will not issue any additional comments so as not to harm the ongoing process,” the ministry simply wrote by email.
In addition to inspections on the Mirabel site, the Ministry of the Environment also visited another site belonging to SRS, this time in the Saint-François sector of Laval. “It was noted in particular that the company operates a waste sorting line without authorization,” confirmed the ministry. A penalty of $5,000 for this purpose was imposed on the company on January 24.