The Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec (CPTAQ) has taken legal action to force a halt to “illegal activities” of backfilling on agricultural land in Sainte-Marie-Salomé. Four companies are targeted, including the owner of the land, Ferme A. Collin, as well as Valosphere Environnement, a material recovery company, learned The duty.
The CPTAQ announced this morning that it has filed an application for an interlocutory injunction with the Superior Court of Quebec. The purpose of this legal process is to force the immediate cessation of “illegal activities” of landfill in this municipality of Lanaudière. The Custodian of Cultivable Land also requests that the lots be rehabilitated.
Four companies are targeted, according to information from the Duty : Demolition ATL, the materials recovery company Valosphere Environnement [anciennement K.L. Mainville]Trans-Dan, which specializes in transportation, as well as Ferme A. Collin, which owns the land concerned.
These companies have been in the crosshairs of the CPTAQ for several months. In its press release, the Commission indicates that it has issued an infringement notice for backfilling works, is it written in a press release published Friday morning. However, two weeks ago, the CPTAQ’s Investigation Department filed a report revealing that “significant backfilling work” was being carried out in an agricultural zone in this small municipality, and this, “without right or authorization”.
The materials used in the backfill could be contaminated or unsuitable, according to a report from the Ministry of the Environment. Already, in October, the latter issued pecuniary penalties to the four companies — ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 — for depositing or storing contaminated soil on a site that is not authorized.
The CPTAQ declined to comment on the case, citing its duty of discretion and respect for the ongoing legal process. The President of the Commission, Stéphane Labrie, also declared in his press release that practices “which are detrimental to the agricultural zone must be taken seriously. »
He adds that “the Act allows us to go directly to the superior courts and to request an interlocutory injunction when a situation, such as the one currently taking place in Sainte-Marie-Salomé, arises”.
“Up to 300 trucks per day”
“It’s a relief because it’s been almost two years since transport intensified here,” says Véronique Venne, mayor of Sainte-Marie-Salomé, where some 1,200 citizens reside. “There were up to 300 trucks a day that could travel on our municipal roads. »
“When we looked at the authorizations from the CPTAQ, we found that there were offenses that were issued. We had seen the sanctions of the Ministry of the Environment against these companies and we wondered why it was going on, ”she adds.
Admittedly, Mayor Venne appreciates the legal steps taken by the CPTAQ, but she says she is “disappointed” that the Ministry of Agriculture—whose representatives she has met with in recent weeks—has only acted following the dissemination of reports in the media, including that of The Press in the first place.
“This is the reason why the Ministry of Agriculture moved. I am very disappointed because as the mayor of a small municipality, what we are looking for is not media attention, but the well-being of our communities and respect for the laws,” she says.