The promoters of the contested BRP warehouse project in Saint-Philippe, in Montérégie, began their work in the habitat of a frog threatened with extinction without having obtained authorization from the Ministry of the Environment, which ordered Monday stopping the construction site.
A Ministry inspector visited the site on March 13, following complaints from citizens. “He then noted that work was in progress for an industrial development project, without the companies having first obtained ministerial authorization, thus contravening the second paragraph of article 22 of the Environmental Quality Act (LQE),” indicates the government press release released Thursday.
This project encroaches on the occurrence of the Western Chorus Frog, a species designated as threatened under the Threatened or Vulnerable Species Actand in danger under the Endangered Species Act.
Extract from the press release from the Ministry of the Environment
Since continuing the work would have the effect of further destroying the habitat of the tiny frog, the Ministry has issued an order against the companies Développements Rosefellow, Groupe Maison Candiac and Construgep, he specifies.
The land in question, which is located in Saint-Philippe, but is landlocked in the neighboring municipality of La Prairie, is intended to accommodate a huge distribution center for BRP, manufacturer of Spyder snowmobiles, personal watercraft and three-wheeled motorcycles.
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The 325,000 m site2 (3.5 million square feet) fronting Highway 30 belonged to the Maison Candiac Group, but passed this week into the hands of the developer Rosefellow and its partner Groupe Mach, who plan to build three or four buildings on the land , according to the plans filed with the municipality of Saint-Philippe.
The project is controversial because, in addition to being near the habitat of the chorus frog, it will lead to an increase in traffic in La Prairie, which has been criticized by citizens and their municipal council.
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The general director of Saint-Philippe, Martin Lelièvre, ensures that all measures have been taken to preserve the frog’s habitat, in particular by conserving the vegetation around the perimeter of the land, with a 100 m buffer zone and a mound.
“But recently, concerns have been raised that there may be tree frogs outside the protected area,” he says.
Rosefellow president and co-founder Mike Jager says only tree felling work was undertaken on the site, after obtaining a municipal permit. This work was 25% complete before it was stopped.
“We want to collaborate with the Ministry as we have always done,” he said in an interview. We submit all the necessary documents, hoping that very quickly, they will allow us to continue our project. When we started, it was because our experts and our biologists guaranteed us that everything had been done the right way. »
He insists that his company takes respect for the environment seriously, with carbon-neutral and LEED-certified buildings.