[ARCHIVE PONTIAC 2007] No to the Danford Lake mega dump

It’s a familiar story.  A municipality, seeking additional revenue, considers importing garbage.  To be able to do so, they support a private company’s proposal to establish a mega dump. 

They do it without consulting the local residents.  If they consider the environmental impacts, it is only to find ways to minimize the real and political fallout.  And of course there is no consideration of alternatives for waste management.

“Citizens of Alleyn-Callwood, Danford Lake and the surrounding area, and the Coalition Against Danford Mega Dump are very well informed, and although they are angry, they continue to calmly insist that there are alternatives,” says Squires.  “For instance, they suggest a plasma gasification plant instead of a landfill, which is the best of the available incineration technologies; but it could still carry problems.  Any long-term solution must include a strong recycling and composting program, along with incentives to reduce household garbage.” 

She added, “to be really safe, any facility would need to be publicly run.  Private companies will always put profit ahead of safety and long-term environmental impacts.”

Residents want to push for alternatives to a landfill to deal with Outaouais’ garbage.  But they are caught between an immobile municipal council, and a Quebec government which is demanding that local, small dumps be closed and considering only one option – a privately-run mega dump – as an alternative.

At the BAPE hearing on February 28, Squires questioned the decisions that have led us to this situation.  “How can we have faith in a process which replicates the problems we’ve seen in so many other cases, a process which merely tries to get rid of political problems instead of addressing environmental and social problems with the project?” she asked.

Later, she asked the promoter of the dump, Denis Rouleau of LDC-Gestion et Services environnementaux, if there was a cap on the amount of garbage the dump would accept, and how much money he stood to make from the project.  He refused to answer. 

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For more information contact:

Jessica Squires

Candidate for Pontiac riding, Québec Solidaire

819-777-5831

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