Drummondville shouts “victory”, but calls for a “national discussion” on the future of waste management in the aftermath of an important Superior Court judgment which annulled the decree of the Government of Quebec authorizing the expansion of the site technical landfill site (LET) at Saint-Nicéphore.
Posted at 12:09 p.m.
“This decision may be a legal victory for the City, but it is not yet an environmental victory in connection with the management of residual materials. We are facing a great social challenge, ”warned the mayor of Drummondville, Stéphanie Lacoste, Wednesday at a press briefing.
Last summer, Quebec announced its intention to decree the creation of a special intervention zone (ZIS) to allow the continued operation of the Saint-Nicéphore landfill.
We then pleaded with the government that it was necessary to avoid that issues of hygiene and public safety affect all of southern Quebec, the possibilities of diverting to other places the residual materials eliminated at this site – which is approaching full capacity – being very limited, if not non-existent. Shortly after, Drummondville announced that it was thinking of attacking Quebec in court, judging the decision “inconceivable” in the context where the population has already rejected the expansion project by referendum.
In her decision rendered on Tuesday, Judge Katheryne A. Desfossés agreed with the City, ruling that the government’s decision to adopt this decree is “unreasonable” and that it is therefore “invalid”. It also criticizes Quebec for not having subdivided the lots required for the creation of a ZIS, for the one and only reason that the Ministry of the Environment would have “lack of time”.
“The judge agrees with us that the government did not follow its own rules of its Planning and Town Planning Act when he decreed the special intervention zone. The perimeter chosen for the ZIS is far too large and the absence of a duration of application shows that it is futile to want to act urgently over the long term”, further castigated Mayor Lacoste. She also sees it as “another victory” for the autonomy of Quebec municipalities.
That said, M.me Lacoste recognizes that it will be necessary to “find alternative solutions” to manage residual materials, at a time when several landfills are reaching the limit of their capacity. “It is becoming essential that we start a national discussion on this subject”, she claimed, inviting her municipal and government colleagues to “reflect on the question”. “It is not with lawsuits, decrees or special laws that we will meet the challenge of managing residual materials in Quebec, but rather by talking to each other, by discussing together,” she insisted.
Quebec “under analysis”, Prudent Waste Mangement
Joined by The Press, the office of the Minister of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, Benoit Charette, said “to take note” of the judgment rendered by the Court, which “suspends the ZIS”. “We are analyzing the follow-up to be given to this judgment,” said the minister’s press attaché, Rosalie Tremblay-Cloutier.
“The decision to impose a ZIS to allow the expansion of the Saint-Nicéphore LET was not taken lightly. The goal was to avoid an inevitable health crisis in the event of a service interruption, ”she recalled, however.
In the immediate future, Waste Management, the multinational that administers the Saint-Nicéphore landfill site, will nevertheless be able to continue its activities until October 2022. “We will continue our operations until then. Now, for the rest, the government has 120 days to respect or not the judgment. We’ll see what happens to all of this. The ink of judgment is barely dry. We still need to refine our understanding,” he said.
“The health crisis that is looming on the horizon, it still persists. We are collectively on the edge of the abyss. If ever the site were to close, there will be a major problem awaiting Quebecers, ”also argued Mr. Dussault. The latter also recalls that “the judge recognizes that the government could proceed with the creation of the ZIS”, but orders it to better “mark it out”.
If the special intervention zone were to emerge, Waste Management could bury up to 430,000 tonnes of residual materials there per year for a maximum period of 10 years.