Illegal PCB storage on the Reliance site - Soil characterization to begin in April

POINTE-CLAIRE, QC, March 26, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - The mayor of the City of Pointe-Claire, Morris Trudeau, is happy to confirm that soil characterization and rehabilitation will begin next week at the Reliance site, on which PCBs were once illegally stockpiled.

Following a public call for tenders, the contract for soil characterization and rehabilitation has now been awarded to TechnoRem Inc. by the ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement de la Faune et des Parcs (MDDEFP).

"This is reassuring news for citizens, because this is the step that will lead to the removal of all residual contamination from the site," said Mayor Trudeau.

This execution phase follows recent work carried out over the winter by Sanexen Environmental Services Inc. The firm emptied transformers, disposed of containers filled with oily water and contaminated soil, removed liquids from transformers located outdoors and safely disposed of barrels stored inside the building.

"This work was finished by January 31, and all of these pieces of equipment, containers and materials have now been transferred to authorized disposal sites. The MDDEFP maintained a continuous presence on the Reliance site to ensure rigorous supervision of the handling of these contaminated products," explained the mayor.

In addition to removal of these materials and pieces of equipment, work carried out in the storage zone included the extraction of about 600 metric tons of potentially contaminated soil, in order to limit the risk of runoff of contaminated water in the spring.

"The Ministry will regularly monitor the situation during the period of spring snowmelt to make sure there is no migration of contaminants from the site," concluded Mayor Trudeau. The mayor noted that City authorities are sparing no effort to ensure that the site does not represent any kind of threat to the population's health and safety in the future.

SOURCE: Ville de Pointe-Claire

Source: Communications Department, City of Pointe-Claire, [email protected]; Information: Jean-Maurice Duddin, [phone]