Quebec recognizes the collective nature of its water resources since 20091. It is now time to do the same for its soils, the use of which in an urban environment is essentially based on individual and land ownership.
In common parlance, the word “ground” is often used to designate an inert surface rather than a dynamic mass. Soil is a living natural resource that hosts hundreds of thousands of organisms, such as bacteria, fungi and insects.
It is fundamental to human survival, as it provides essential nutrients for the growth of plants that feed us, heal us and perform a host of ecological services. Soils help store carbon, improve water quality and reduce the risk of flooding.
No matter where we are, the quality of the soil around us impacts our lives.
Unfortunately, the essential functions of the soil are not immutable. They become ineffective when its natural balance is disturbed, especially by contaminants and pollutants. There are certain legislative and regulatory provisions aimed at preventing soil contamination and rehabilitating them.
However, several obstacles arising from individual ownership do not effectively reduce environmental risks and even amplify certain socioeconomic issues.
Indeed, the high decontamination costs often exceed the value of the land. Consequently, these lands remain contaminated and become vacant spaces. The disclosure of the state of contamination of a site is all the more problematic, since it is only mandatory according to certain triggers and other very specific situations.2.
As a result, for a large number of contaminated sites, no notice is registered in the land register and the information is not compiled in any government database.
On the scale of the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM), nearly 3,900 hectares of space are vacant. A large number of them would be contaminated, although the current legislative and regulatory situation does not allow this to be confirmed.
These lands are collectively problematic, because they reduce the possibility of drawing revenue from them through the property tax, they lower the real estate value of neighborhoods, they contribute to urban sprawl and thereby to the degradation of natural environments.
Vacant land also threatens human and environmental health, as contamination can migrate to neighboring properties and reach groundwater.
Revitalize industrial and vacant sites in the CMM
The CMM has just announced that it has released 3 million dollars for the creation of a new program for the upgrading of industrial spaces. One of the key objectives is to enhance vacant land. But how will she meet this ambitious challenge if she does not know the state of their contamination or the real reason for their vacancy?
If we had a legal framework that recognized the collective nature of soils, their state of contamination could be publicly accessible, even on private land. Land that has been unoccupied for more than a specified number of years could be required to submit to a soil characterization study.
Such transparency would certainly lead to better planning and more rigorous management of the territory and environmental risks.
It seems obvious that the current framework leads to the proliferation of vacant contaminated sites and represents a significant loss of opportunity for municipalities. Let’s remember that the CMM is committed to protecting 30% of its territory by 2030 and that several of its municipalities are struggling with heat island zones.
Temporarily or permanently greening vacant land then becomes a strategic approach that is consistent with the needs of climate adaptation, biodiversity protection and environmental justice.
As David Suzuki wrote on the eve of the Rio Earth Summit in 19923 “When we endanger the air, the water, the soil and the diversity of life, we steal infinity from the future to satisfy an ephemeral present. We must realize that the soil, like water and air, are collective resources intimately linked to our vital needs and that we must imperatively protect them for the benefit of all.
2. The disclosure of the state of contamination of land is currently governed by the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP)