The new regulation on emissions into the atmosphere of the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM) continues to create a stir. After the rendering company Sanimax, the Employers’ Council for the Environment of Quebec (CPEQ) in turn calls on the Legault government to block this regulation.
Posted at 10:13 a.m.
In a long letter sent to Environment Minister Benoit Charette, CPEQ president Hélène Lauzon, who represents the environmental business sector, states that “the new obligations proposed appear to us to be impossible to meet within the deadlines provided, in particular the deadline of 18 months granted by the [règlement] to compel the storage, inside a building, of animal matter intended for a rendering plant”.
“In addition, non-compliance with such standards could result in the suspension or revocation of permits, which amounts to forcing the closure of the only rendering plant in Montreal,” insists Ms.me Lauzon.
His exit comes a little over a week after that of the CEO of Sanimax in North America, Martial Hamel, who fears that he will have to close the doors of his factory in Rivière-des-Prairies if the Plante administration is authorized to apply this regulation which, according to him, “would have major consequences for the agri-food chain in Quebec”.
At the end of July, The Press revealed that the City intends to tighten the screw on Sanimax, whose plant located in Rivière-des-Prairies and employing 300 people continues to arouse the ire of citizens because of the foul odors. Under this regulation, the company will have to store animal matter in a building and will no longer be able to keep it outside, giving Sanimax 18 months to build a garage.
This regulation, adopted in mid-June by the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM), also includes guidelines on an odor threshold to be respected, in addition to giving the power to municipal authorities to suspend or revoke a permit to operation if they judge that the situation is not in conformity.
Too “great discretion”
The CPEQ is concerned, however, that the “great discretion” which would thus be granted to municipal authorities to suspend or revoke a permit seems “arbitrary”. “Thus, even a minor contravention of the regulations for a very specific activity and which the holder can easily remedy could lead to the suspension or revocation of the entire permit. Such a situation seems arbitrary to us and undermines predictability for companies,” she laments.
In addition, respecting the odor threshold “is practically impossible to respect for many companies which, despite major investments in purification systems, are struggling to emit less than four odor units,” says the president. “The latter are therefore continually exposed to penalties from the Service, despite all the efforts made in recent years to reduce odor emissions to a minimum. Such a situation unduly disadvantages Montreal companies compared to other Quebec, Canadian or foreign companies,” she criticizes.
“We believe that the standards proposed in the regulations concerning rendering must be relaxed until a consultation of all the players involved is carried out”, concludes Mr.me Lauzon, deploring the CMM’s “lack of transparency” in this file.
Ultimately, it is up to Quebec to determine whether or not this regulation can be applied. “The analysis of the regulations is not yet complete. For the ministry, it is important that the various actors concerned manage to find common ground which takes into account both the impacts on the neighboring populations, on the environment and on the various economic actors”, reacted Wednesday the press secretary to Minister Benoit Charette, Rosalie Tremblay-Cloutier.
The City of Montreal pleads that it acted in good faith from the start. “The company has not submitted any complete plan respecting the regulations. Discussions have instead focused on presenting options and ideas for expanding its plant, ignoring the regulations in place. In no case did the City have in its hands a complete plan, costed with a commitment on the reduction of nuisances”, hammered the press attaché Marikym Gaudreault.