Governments collaborate to keep chemicals out of St. Lawrence River

The three levels of government have teamed up on amultimillion-dollar plan to stop the leakage ofchemicals from land along the Bonaventure Expressway into the St. Lawrence River.

"It's also one of the most complicated and big environmental sitesin Canada, it's one of the biggest,"said MartinChiasson,an engineer overseeing the project.

"[I am]very proud today to say that we are finally able to put forth a concrete solution."

Starting in 1866the site was a CN rail yard andalandfill for industrial and domestic waste. It waslater filled to create a parking lot forExpo 67, and later the Technoparc.

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About 25 years ago, the leftover fuel and chemicals from the site started leaking into the groundwater below the site, which then flowed intothe St. Lawrence.

PCBs in the east

Pollutants in the groundwater can differ depending on where it comes from.

Diesel fuel contaminated with polychlorinatedbiphenyls, or PCBs, floats on the water in the east sector of the expressway between theClmentand Victoria bridges.

The solution will be a retaining wall to collect the diesel before it gets into the river.The PCB-laced diesel will be transported to a dumping site approved by the province.

Ottawa will provide $12 million for Project Bonaventure.

PAHs in the west

The western portion of the affected siteincludes the land along the expressway facing Nuns' Islandat the approach of theChamplainBridge.

Tests on groundwater there revealed the presence ofammonia nitrogen,polycyclicaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and dissolved metals.

In that sector, ahydraulic barrier and series of wells will be built along the shore. The system will pump contaminated water througha treatment system, where it will be cleaned, tested and discharged back into the river. It will cost $15 million, split between Ottawa and Quebec.

Montreal will build anotherwall and treatment plant near the Technoparc. That planis still in the planning stagesand will cost $77million over 25 years, saidRal Mnard, who isin charge of sustainable development for the city.

He expectsQuebec will help cover those costs.

A need for oversight

Environmentalist and deputy Green Party Leader Daniel Green isn't impressed by the plan.

He says despite promises to deal with the site,the city has been "derelict" in cleaning up the site andthe federal and provincial governments have left the city alone.

He wants independent oversight of the operation to ensure it's being cleaned up properly.

"Because the government is the polluter, who is going to keep an eye on the government?" he said.

He says the chemicals in the groundwater can be volatile andproduce a lot of fumes. Pumping them out of the water may actually create air pollution, yet another reason, he says, why the government should be held to account by an independent group.

The systems are expected to be built and running by 2017.