THE BAPE WILL INFORM THE PUBLIC ON FEBRUARY
20th IN BLANC-SABLON
Québec, February
18th, 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 20th,
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
