Quebec on Friday gave its authorization to the container transhipment project of Ray-Mont Logistiques in the east of Montreal. Hundreds of trucks and containers will be able to pass through the site every day, located on the edge of a residential district. Some restrictions have been imposed on the company, but the project is facing strong opposition.
The authorization granted by the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks covers the operation of an intermodal logistics platform including the handling and storage of full and empty containers. The authorization specifies that the activities will be carried out on the paved portion of the site with an area of 18,000 m2 located at 5227, rue Notre-Dame Est.
In a press release published Friday at 5:25 p.m., the ministry indicates that the project is likely to cause noise pollution to residential areas located approximately 100 meters from the site.
Quebec therefore imposes several restrictions. Thus, the maximum number of containers authorized to pass through the site was limited to 1,500 per day and for storage, a limit of 5,000 containers was decreed. In addition, activities on the site will be authorized seven days a week, but only from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Noise measurements are also planned as soon as the transhipment platform is in operation, once every three months for at least one year. Occasional readings could also be taken if necessary and at the request of the ministry.
Worry and disappointment
“We are unpleasantly surprised to see this decision, especially on a Friday afternoon, especially since there is a lot of concern among the population of the sector and there is no social acceptability yet”, commented Patricia Clermont, coordinator of the Quebec Association of Physicians for the Environment (AQME). “We are obviously worried about the impacts of the project on health. The AQME would also like Public Health to assess these impacts and to conduct a targeted consultation on noise.
“It’s a hasty decision since we didn’t have the environmental assessment. And we don’t have a complete portrait of the impacts that the project will have in the following phases and we still don’t have a master plan for the Assomption-Sud sector,” laments Emmanuel Rondia, director general of the Regional Council of environment (CRE) of Montreal.
For his part, the mayor of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Pierre Lessard-Blais, said he was “extremely disappointed” with the government’s decision. “The conditions imposed do not replace the rigor and depth of an assessment by the BAPE,” he pointed out. “This announcement is all the more worrying for the citizens I represent, who expect more transparency and collaboration from the government. Their confidence is certainly weakened. »
The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, also denounced the government’s decision. The project does not obtain social acceptability and phases 2 and 3 of the project risk causing even more vibrations, noise, dust and truck traffic in the east of Montreal, advances the PQ leader who claims an analysis by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) on the entire project. “Once again, the east end of Montreal suffers. »
Remember that Ray-Mont Logistiques planned to open a container transshipment business on its site that would operate 24/7. Despite repeated requests from residents of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, the Legault government repeatedly refused submit the project to an environmental assessment of all the impacts of this industrial project. Such a review could have been conducted by the BAPE, if Environment Minister Benoit Charette had demanded it.
Previously, the Quebec Court of Appeal also obliged the City of Montreal to provide the municipal authorizations that the promoter was requesting. The latter nevertheless initiated a lawsuit of 373 million dollars against the City because of the long delays in granting him an authorization.
During an inspection carried out on March 21, 2022 following a complaint, the ministry noted that the developer, who had laid an asphalt surface on a portion of the site, had started trucking, handling and container storage. This observation led to the issuance of a notice of non-compliance on April 4, 2022.