Kanesatake Illegal Dump | A concentration 144 times higher than the standard

The high presence of sulphides in contaminated water poses a danger to aquatic life

The contaminated water flowing from the illegal Kanesatake dump, near Oka, exceeds the concentration of sulphides deemed safe for the survival of fish by 144 times, according to laboratory analyzes carried out by The Press.

The results of this analysis, carried out by Bureau Véritas, also show the presence of naphthalates and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), toxic contaminants of petroleum origin, which flow from the site, but in concentrations that do not not exceed environmental standards.

The same goes for certain heavy metals, such as nickel, lead and chromium, detected in the water and sediments downstream of the site, but in concentrations below environmental standards.

“We see that there is an impact. There must be no transfer of liquid to Lac des Deux Montagnes. There is a danger on the human level and on the fish farming level,” says Alfred Jaouich, retired professor from the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at UQAM, who has written several scientific articles on mining contamination and industrial.

“Sulfides are not good for fish, that’s for sure,” says Sébastien Sauvé, professor of environmental chemistry at the University of Montreal. However, he says he is reassured that our results show “no bewildering excess” for oil-based contaminants and metals.

“The strong smell is still a signal that something is happening, that something is rotting and changing. Without exculpating the site, there is nothing that surprises me much in these analysis results. The water circulating in the stream, at that time, was not very contaminated, ”he believes.

Clandestine sampling

The sampling was carried out on May 3 by Daniel Green, an environmentalist who heads the Society to Defeat Pollution, who holds a master’s degree in environmental science. The Press, who paid for the lab fees, accompanied Mr. Green during the clandestine operation, which was partly carried out in Mohawk territory. It was the day after this sampling, on May 4, that we returned to the site and filmed with a drone a breach in the contaminated water retention system of the illegal Recyclage G & R dump.

We first took samples upstream of the site, at a location in the municipality of Oka. At this place, the water was clear and without any particular odor.

We then went downstream from the dump, in Mohawk territory, to collect water from the same stream after it had crossed the contaminated site. We immediately noticed a very strong smell of rotten eggs, a signature of the presence of sulphur. The smell even became bothersome during the operation. The water was cloudy and foamy.

Daniel Green believes that the high concentration of sulphides is the result of the decomposition of gypsum, the debris of which is visible to the naked eye on the piles of waste piled up on the site. Exceeding the sulphide standards of the Surface Water Quality Criteria of the MELCC noted by our analysis is calculated conservatively, based on a water pH of 6, less acidic than that already noted by the MELCC on the site.

“It signals that there is enough contamination to pollute for a long time. The site contributes to the toxicological deterioration of Lac des Deux Montagnes,” says Mr. Green.

Fish preservation

The Government of Quebec had itself carried out a similar sampling campaign in the same places after a major toxic spill that occurred on 1^er August 2020. Significant overruns of environmental standards for the preservation of aquatic life were then noted.

The Federal Ministry of the Environment, citing the Fisheries Actthen ordered the owners, brothers Robert and Gary Gabriel, to “at no time allow the discharge of any harmful substance […] harms or is likely to harm fish or their habitat”. Lac des Deux Montagnes, where the watercourse that crosses the dump runs, “is recognized as a sport fishing area that is home to several species”, underlined the directive from Environment Canada addressed to the Gabriel brothers, on November 18 2020.

There Fisheries Act provides for fines of up to $2 million and imprisonment for a maximum of three years, in the event of a repeat offence, for persons who contravene the provisions on the protection of aquatic life.

Private Criminal Complaint

Daniel Green, a longtime activist who has often taken on polluting companies, believes that the fact that no action has yet been brought against the Gabriel brothers by the federal government under the Fisheries Act opens the door to the filing of a private criminal prosecution.

This type of recourse, considered by the courts as a “precious constitutional guarantee against the inertia or the partiality of the authorities”, allows any citizen to bring a criminal recourse by bypassing the government prosecutors. However, the Attorney General of the Government may terminate it at any time.

Mr. Green does not hide the fact that he plans to collect his own water samples to make technical evidence that would allow such a private lawsuit to be brought against the owners of the site.

Toronto lawyer Mark Mattson, who has already piloted private criminal complaints in environmental matters, believes this is a possible avenue. ” There Fisheries Act is Canada’s strongest environmental law. Unfortunately, the government is working more on trying to help offenders comply than on prosecuting them in court. Private prosecutions are often a last resort,” he notes.

Private environmental lawsuits have already been successfully launched three times by environmental groups, against landfills in Kingston, Hamilton and Moncton.

Strong concerns reported on Monday

The impact of toxic spills from the Kanesatake dump is a major concern in Oka and neighboring municipalities. Last Monday, a hundred citizens attended a public meeting which took place in the presence of the Member for Mirabel, Sylvie D’amours (CAQ), the Federal Member of Parliament, Jean-Denis Garon (Bloc Québécois), the Mayor of ‘Oka, Pascal Quévillon, and the grand chief of Kanesatake, Victor Bonspille. Most of the questions asked by citizens related to the quality of drinking water in the region, which is largely drawn from Lac des Deux Montagnes or comes from surface wells.

“It shows that we need more transparency on the part of the federal government in this file,” said MP Jean-Denis Garon. The government communicates little information, and it is the people who drink the water from the lake and are afraid. »