Premier Jean Charest

Ministère du Conseil exécutif
Édifice Honoré-Mercier, 3e étage
835, boul. René-Lévesque Est
Québec (Québec) G1A 1B4

Dear Premier Charest,

I am writing to express my strong opposition to a proposed landfill project in the town of Danford Lake, Quebec. I am a property owner in the region, and am a local taxpayer. As proposed, the landfill site would cover 545 acres [220 hectares]. It would service the Outaouais Region, and would receive up to 250,000 tons of waste per year. I am concerned about the potential impact of the landfill on pollution of the Picanoc and Kazabazua rivers.

Despite significant community opposition, Joe Squitty, the mayor of the municipality of Alleyn-and-Cawood, is proceeding with the landfill project. However, there has not been a true public consultation process. On 5 October 2004, the Mayor sent a letter that was neither signed, nor written on letterhead, to all Alleyn-and-Cawood residents. This letter merely informed them that, because of new regulations, the municipality would be obliged to close its trench landfill and that it would be best to replace it with a modern landfill called an “engineered landfill”. The letter did not contain a single word about the size or regional scope of the new site. It misled citizens into believing that it was a simple matter of upgrading the existing trench landfill. This does not constitute a true public consultation process.

The Landfill is to be operated by LDC Management and Environmental Services. Apparently, Quebec law indicates that the promoter (in this case, LDC) is responsible for carrying out and commissioning the impact study. LDC has commissioned a company (Fondex) to carry out the impact study. Fondex has just joined a company (Tecknika) that is a partner of LDC. This is a blatant conflict of interest. I wonder whether LDC has declared this conflict of interest to the Ministry of the Environment as part of the impact study.

I urge the provincial government to halt the progress of the Danford landfill project until a true public consultation process can take place, and until an environmental impact study can be done by a company that is not in conflict of interest. I look forward to hearing from you on this issue.

Yours Sincerely,

cc.: Municipal Council of Alleyn-and-Cawood, 10 Ch. Jondee, Danford Lake (Québec) J0X 1P0