THE BAPE WILL INFORM THE PUBLIC ON FEBRUARY 28 TH AT 7:30 P.M.

Québec, February 6, 2007  – The Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) is holding an information session on the project to establish a technical landfill site at Danford Lake in the Municipality of Alleyn-et-Cawood proposed by LDC – Gestion et services environnementaux. This session, in which the proponent will participate, will be hosted by a BAPE representative and will be held on February 28, 2007 starting at   7:30 p.m., at Salle récréative Otter Lake located at 394, rue Tessier, in Otter   Lake (Leslie-Clapham-Huddersfield). The purpose of the information session is to allow citizens to obtain information about the project, the environmental impact assessment and review procedure, the public consultation process, as well as the role of the BAPE. This information session falls under the mandate that Claude Béchard, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, has entrusted to the BAPE. The latter must make available to the public the impact study and the entire file pertaining to the project. The public information and consultation period begins today, February 6, 2007, and will end on March 23, 2007.

It is during this 45-day period that any citizen, group, municipality or organization can submit an application for a public hearing to the Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks. As the case may be, a commission of the BAPE could be put in charge of examining the project and consulting the public on this subject.

 Where can the project documentation be consulted?

Citizens can learn more about the project by consulting the impact study prepared by the proponent and the other documents describing the project and, among other things, its repercussions on the environment. Starting today and until March 23, 2007, these documents may be consulted at the BAPE office in Québec City, at the Central Library of Université du Québec à Montréal as well as on the web site of the BAPE at the following address: www.bape.gouv.qc.ca under the heading “Mandats en cours”. The entire file is also available at Alleyn-et-Cawood Library, located at 10, chemin Jondee, in Danford Lake in the Municipality of Alleyn-et-Cawood .

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 receive additional information or clarifications, to obtain the opinion of experts on the project or to make known their opinion and their position regarding the project can apply for a public hearing during the public information and consultation period. This application must be submitted in writing not later than March 23, 2007 to Claude Béchard, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, 675, boulevard René-Lévesque Est, 30^e étage, Québec (Québec) G1R 5V7. Applicants must indicate the reasons for their application and their interest in the environment affected by the project.

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, the public hearing mandate lasting a maximum of 4 months, and the mediation mandate lasting approximately 2 months.

The project

The firm of LDC – Gestion et services environnementaux proposes to establish a technical landfill site (TLS) at Danford Lake in the Municipality of Alleyn-et-Cawood on the territory of the RCM of Pontiac in the Outaouais region. The TLS would be situated on the edge of Route 301 about 8 km west of the village. The landfill area would be 38.5 ha in size. The capacity of the TLS would be on the order of 8 million metric tons of waste. Its useful life would depend on the actual quantity of waste received but would make it possible to meet the territory’s waste disposal needs for a minimum period of 30 years, namely about 250 000 metric tons annually. The waste would come from the Outaouais region. The proponent plans notably to put in place systems to make the site impermeable and to collect and treat leach water. Biogases would be collected and valorized, and the run-off water would be intercepted. The cost of creating the TLS was evaluated at $63 million in 2003. The proponent also plans for various waste reclamation and recycling infrastructures.

The repercussions anticipated by the proponent and the mitigation measures proposed in the impact study

The clearing activities that would take place could result in soil erosion and the alteration of the quality of surface water. To deal with this possibility, sediment collection works have been planned. Forest habitats would be lost as would the use of the forest area. The proponent intends to plant vegetation on the site as the final cover of the TLS is put in place. Moreover, following the closure of the site, certain usage rights could be transferred for wildlife conservation purposes.

During the operating period, the leach water from the TLS would be treated and discharged into Picanoc river. The proponent considers that the impact of this discharge would be limited given that the flow rate of the river would be much greater than that of the effluent. Run-off water from the borrow material storage area would be collected and the suspended solid content would be checked before this water is discharged into the river. The putrescible matter present on the site could attract undesirable species such as gulls. As their droppings may present a risk from the standpoint of the alteration of the quality of surface water, measures to scare off such species are planned. A system to make the site impermeable would prevent the infiltration of leach water and the contamination of groundwater. The proponent deems minimal the risk of contamination of the drinking water wells of homes given that the site would be made impermeable and the time it would take groundwater to flow between the TLS and the wells would be about 140 years. Nevertheless, a follow-up would be carried out. According to the proponent, the alteration of the air quality associated with the emission of biogases, often the source of odours, would be negligible because the waste would be covered each day and because the nearest dwellings are located more than 2 km away. Still according to the proponent, the impact for residents of the increase in noise related to the transport of waste would also be negligible.

The main impact likely to remain once all of the mitigation measures have been applied would concern traffic safety due to the increase in traffic associated with the transport of waste. The operation of the site would result in the creation of some one dozen jobs, four to six of which would be permanent. In addition, this technical landfill site would make it possible to put an end to the disposal of waste in landfills outside the Outaouais region.

Persons wishing to obtain more information can get in touch with Danielle Hawey at 418 643-7447 or toll-free at 1 800 463-4732, extension 533, or by e-mail at the following address:
let-danford-lake @bape.gouv.qc.ca.

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Source: Danielle Hawey
Communications Advisor