THE BAPE WILL INFORM THE PUBLIC ON FEBRUARY
14th IN BLANC-SABLON
Québec, February 7th, 2008
– The Bureau d’audiences publiques sur
l’environnement (BAPE) is holding an information
session on the Projet de correction de la côte
de Black Rock à Blanc-Sablon. This session,
which the proponent will be attending, will be hosted
by a representative of the BAPE and will be held on
February 14th, 2008, beginning
at 7:30 p.m., at salle municipale de Blanc-Sablon,
1149, boulevard Docteur-Camille-Marcoux.
The purpose of the information session is to allow
citizens to obtain information on the project, the
environmental impact assessment study and review procedure,
the public consultation process, as well as the role
of the BAPE. This information session is being held
as part of the mandate entrusted to the BAPE by Madam
Line Beauchamp, Minister of Sustainable Development
Environment and Parks. The BAPE must make available
to the public the impact assessment study and entire
file related to the project. The public information
and consultation period began on January, 15th,
2008 and will end on February 29th, 2008.
It is during this 45-day period that
citizens, groups, municipalities or organizations
can submit a request for public hearing to the Minister
of Sustainable Development Environment and Parks.
If necessary, a commission of the BAPE could be mandated
to make inquiry on the project and to consult the
public on this subject.
WHERE CAN THE PROJECT DOCUMENTATION
BE CONSULTED?
Citizens can learn more about the
project by consulting the impact assessment study
prepared by the proponent and the other documents
describing the project and, among other things, its
repercussions on the environment. These documents
can be consulted until February 29th, 2008,
at the BAPE office in Québec, at Bibliothèque
centrale de l’Université du Québec
à Montréal, as well as on the BAPE website
at www.bape.gouv.qc.ca, under the
heading “Mandats en cours”. The entire
file is also available at the Caisse populaire
Desjardins de Blanc-Sablon, 1056, boulevard Docteur-Camille-Marcoux
in Blanc-Sablon.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF CITIZENS?
Citizens are invited to examine the
file, to act as experts in their community by underscoring
the issues related to the project, to ask questions
during the information session, and to record their
comments in the registers opened for this purpose
at the consultation centres.
WHAT RIGHTS DO CITIZENS HAVE?
Any person, group, organization or
municipality wishing to obtain additional information
or clarifications, to obtain the opinion of experts
on the project or to make known their opinions and
position regarding the project can submit a request
for public hearing during the public information and
consultation period. This request must be sent in
writing no later than February 29th, 2008
to Madam Line Beauchamp, Minister of Sustainable Development
Environment and Parks, 675, boulevard René-Lévesque
Est, 30e étage, Québec (Québec)
G1R 5V7. The applicant must indicate the reasons for
his request and his interest in relation to the milieu
affected by the project.
WHAT IS THE BAPE?
The BAPE is a public information
and consultation body that allows citizens to express
themselves on a project and to intervene in the decision-making
process leading to the authorization or denial of
a project. The BAPE carries out the mandates that
it receives from the Minister of Sustainable Development,
Environment and Parks, notably the public information
and consultation mandate lasting 45 days and the public
hearing mandate lasting a maximum of 4 months.
THE PROJECT
The Ministère des Transports
plans to correct a 1.9 km stretch of the portion of
Route 138 located to the east of the Municipality
of Blanc-Sablon and which would extend to Labrador
over an approximate distance of 400 m, in the undivided
Township of Brest. The work would consist of correcting
the non-compliant curves and reducing the slopes.
The pavement would have a total width of 6.6 metres
with paved shoulders measuring 2 m. Asphalt-covered
curbs and guard rails would be installed at the locations
where they are required. This stretch of the road
would then meet the design and safety standards of
a collector road having a posted speed of 80 km/h.
The carrying out of this project implies the acquisition
of small strips of private land. However, no home
would be acquired or expropriated. The new route would
also necessitate the relocation of two lines, namely
a power line and a telephone line, as well as the
relocation of the scenic outlook located to the west
of the border on the south side of Route 138, towards
the gulf, approximately 30 to 50 metres further south.
Globally, all of the existing accesses would remain
at their current location but would, however, be laid
out according to the new profile of the road.
The Department envisages carrying
out this work in 2008 or 2009. The total cost of the
work is evaluated at $4.7 million.
Repercussions anticipated by
the proponent and mitigation measures proposed in
the impact study
According to the impact study, most
of the negative repercussions would be associated
with the construction phase. They would involve, among
other things, vehicle and machinery traffic as well
as excavation and blasting work, which would result
in noise, dust and pollutant gas emissions. The proponent
specifies that the mitigation measures integrated
in the call-for-tender documents and in the environmental
monitoring program would guarantee the absence of
significant residual repercussions. However, the carrying
out of the project would affect variable stretches
of private land which would have to be acquired by
the Ministère des Transports. As the sector
of Route 138 to the east of Blanc-Sablon is prone
to avalanches, a study is currently under way to develop,
based on digital modeling, the most appropriate mitigation
measures making it possible to reduce the effects
of the winds as well as snow accumulation on the road.
The effect of the project would be
to make road traffic safer for the region’s
population and for Labrador residents who come take
the ferry to Newfoundland.
Persons wishing to obtain more information
can get in touch with Madam Louise Bourdages at 418
643 7447 or toll-free, at 1 800 463-4732 extension
532, or by e-mail at the following address: route-blanc-sablon@bape.gouv.qc.ca.
– 30 –
Source: Louise Bourdages
Communications advisor