The promoters of a kerosene terminal intended mainly for Ontario want to start construction work in Montreal East soon, but they still have to obtain authorizations from the Legault government, learned The duty. The City of Montreal is calling for the project to be abandoned, worried about the passage of thousands of tank cars each year through its residential neighborhoods and the use of a pipeline which has experienced several incidents. But Quebec considers it “acceptable”.
The International Fueling Corporation of Montreal (CIAM), a company owned by a consortium of airlines, intends to build a kerosene storage and transshipment complex on the shores of the St. Lawrence River.
This maritime terminal would receive aircraft fuel which would be stored in tanks and then transported to the Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau airport in Montreal, in particular, but especially to the Pearson airports in Toronto and Macdonald-Cartier in Ottawa. In all, 77% of this kerosene will be destined for airports located in Ontario.
Between 1.4 and 1.9 billion liters of fuel would therefore pass through this new industrial complex in eastern Montreal each year, according to the information included in the report of the Bureau of Public Hearings on the Environment (BAPE). The mandate of the latter was limited to the analysis of the terminal site in 2018, excluding the resulting transport of hydrocarbons.
However, this transportation means that large volumes of fuel pass through densely populated areas of the Island of Montreal. The majority of the kerosene, up to 1.1 billion litres, will be loaded into tank cars for transport to Pearson Airport. A total of 10,950 wagons could be needed, which involves several dozen convoys each year.
Montreal East has a front row seat to see the repercussions of this project on its territory and we share the concerns. This infrastructure would go against the establishment of our economic hub of transition sectors.
These convoys of kerosene will cross the island of Montreal from east to west, passing through several inhabited areas, including Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles, Montreal-North, Saint-Léonard, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Lachine, Dorval and Beaconsfield. In some cases, the railway tracks they will use pass a few meters from single-family residences and apartment buildings.
A total of 568 million liters of kerosene per year could also take the Trans-Nord pipeline to Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau airport. The majority of this fuel should be used on site, but nearly 3,000 tanker trucks can be loaded there each year bound for Ottawa’s Macdonald-Cartier airport.
The Trans-Nord pipeline, largely built in 1952, passes through several residential areas of Montreal and Laval before reaching Montreal airport; it therefore crosses the Rivière des Prairies twice. According to the information provided to Duty by the Canada Energy Regulator, this pipeline has experienced 25 “incidents” in Quebec since 2013. All of these events were for “operation beyond design tolerances”, 16 of which were related to “overpressure” in the line.
Missing permissions
CIAM declined our request for an interview, but provided us with a statement attributable to its president, Robert Iasenza, indicating that work on the project is continuing. “The required authorizations have been obtained and work will begin in the coming weeks, towards the end of the summer. »
The CIAM, which has an active mandate in the register of lobbyists in order to “obtain the required permits”, does not yet have all the authorizations necessary for the realization of its project. Even if the Legault government signed a decree in June 2019 in favor of the construction of the terminal, other “ministerial authorizations” are necessary, confirms to the Duty the Ministry of the Environment.
Minister Benoit Charette must in fact give the green light to the construction of a seven-kilometre pipeline that will connect the terminal to the Trans-Nord pipeline. It must also approve “the operation of the terminal, including in particular the details of the operating parameters, the details of the monitoring to be carried out, the specific requirements related to the management of effluent discharges and the maintenance and operation program of the works and equipment intended for the management of runoff water”, specifies the Ministry of the Environment.
Montreal opposed to the project
The City of Montreal clearly showed its opposition to the CIAM project in a letter signed by Mayor Valérie Plante and addressed last fall to the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon.
“Montréal-Est has a front-row seat to see the repercussions of this project on its territory and we share the concerns. This infrastructure would go against the establishment of our economic crossroads of transition sectors,” reads this missive obtained by The duty.
“As the climate crisis worsens, it is necessary to question the deployment of non-essential fossil infrastructures for our territory. The use of the best land in the east of Montreal, in the heart of the future “Silicon Valley” of the ecological transition, for fuel storage purposes for Ontario airports, is a serious mistake,” argues the mayor. in this letter sent in October 2022. She adds that “the storage of fuel, the intensified use of a pipeline whose condition is causing concern and the movement of wagons filled with fuel through Montreal have negative impacts and represent health risks. »
Called to react, the person in charge of the east end of Montreal on the city’s executive committee, Caroline Bourgeois, reiterated to the Duty concerns about the transportation of kerosene to the island.
Pierre Fitzgibbon’s cabinet admits to Duty that “no follow-up was given to the letter”, in particular because “the request was largely outside the time limits provided for in the approval process”. In a written response, it is added that the project “was approved by the Council of Ministers in June 2019” following an environmental assessment, including a BAPE. In this context, “the project is environmentally acceptable”.
Minister Benoit Charette’s office shares the opinion of Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon’s office.
The CIAM wants to be reassuring. “We are working on the establishment of a liaison committee which will aim to facilitate discussions with the community, and which will meet before the start of the work and throughout it. This committee will make it possible to continue the collaboration with the partners in order to ensure the optimal progress of the construction and the commissioning, as well as the economic spinoffs for the environment”, we indicated in a written declaration.
The corporation adds that its “impact study” shows a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the ground transportation of aircraft fuel, but also that the BAPE “recognized the justification for the project” and its location.