New judgments against Sanimax | “Twisted”, “brazen” or “absurd” arguments, according to the Court

The Quebec multinational Sanimax – constantly denounced for its atrocious odors – has polluted the air and water, confirms the Superior Court in two recent judgments. It reads that the knacker tries to escape the law in the name of “twisted”, “brazen”, “absurd” arguments, devoid of “any valid legal basis” or having “strictly no sense”.

Marie-Claude Malboeuf
The Press

“Abuses of the judicial system are likely to be committed,” Judge Chantal Masse insisted in one of the decisions handed down against the company on December 23. “The nature and number of arguments raised by Sanimax raised questions in this regard and certainly contributed to the delay taken to render the decisions. »

In criminal matters, it is up to the opposing party to denounce the abuse so that the Court can impose a sanction, specifies the magistrate. However, “given the congestion of the courts”, adjusting the law so that judges can act on their own initiative – as in civil matters – deserves reflection, she believes.

long time war

Sanimax – which recycles rotting viscera – has been condemned at least three times by the municipal court, including twice in 2018. The first time, for having prevented the City from measuring the smelly emissions of its factory. The second, for spilling black or greasy water that contained up to six times too many contaminants.

Sanimax raises “extremely technical” means to challenge these convictions and “none can be retained”, now decides Judge Masse, before setting out the reasons for it over 61 pages.

“No offense to Sanimax, the reasoning of the first judge is flawless. It is based both on evidence and on the most basic common sense,” she writes, in particular, about sewage spills.

In her related judgment on air pollution, Judge Masse confirms that the company was required to provide information about its smelly discharges.

“Sanimax seems to make an arrow of all wood”, and shows itself “equal to itself” by multiplying the questions and sub-questions, she denounces there again.

The only concession to Sanimax: it is true, said the judge, that the City does not specify enough how to take and analyze the air samples.

Victory confirmed for Sanimax

In the third judgment that she delivered the same day, Judge Masse confirmed, on the other hand, that Sanimax could not be punished for having left viscera covered with flies and blood in trailers without canvas.

Montreal requires in a regulation that “animal matter be transported or stored in a sealed system”. But the municipal court considers that the meaning of the word “tight” is too vague, which leaves too much discretion to officials.

Sanimax claims that its trucks are now all equipped with tarps, but the City and residents do not consider them strong enough. Every year, slaughterhouse waste is accidentally thrown onto the sidewalk.

The Press also revealed in the fall^⁠1 that Montreal, Lévis and Saint-Hyacinthe received an unprecedented number of complaints about Sanimax last summer. The pestilential stench of its activities gives retches to the neighbors of its factories, forced to lock themselves up in their homes.

After years of fruitless admonitions, the mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante, and the mayor of Lévis have asked for help from the government of Quebec.