While soil is being dumped in Kanesatake without the approval of the Band Council, the Sûreté du Québec is investigating two spills of hazardous products that occurred a few kilometres away on the edge of farmland in Oka and Saint-Joseph-du-Lac. Government inaction and a climate of intimidation are being singled out by elected officials.
During the night from Thursday to Friday, 14 large tanks totaling nearly 14,000 liters – some partially ripped open – were abandoned on Rang Sainte-Germaine. Six were left in Oka and eight in Saint-Joseph-du-Lac.
“The Sûreté du Québec is carrying out an investigation with a view to identifying the person(s) responsible and the circumstances of these illicit deposits,” confirmed the Ministry of the Environment to La Presse, stating “not currently being able to specify the nature some products “.
In Oka, “these are tanks that seem to have been thrown from a truck” less than 100 meters from Kanesatake, explains Mayor Patrick Quevillon: “And it wasn’t water. It was a fairly dense, brownish and yellowish liquid. We are not experts, so we have to wait for the results of the analyses. »
It is intended to be reassuring: a specialized firm recovered and cleaned the roadway and the ditch where the spill took place. “It was done quickly, so it didn’t end up on agricultural land,” he assures. The cost of the operation could reach $30,000.
This event occurs while Oka is juggling important issues related to environmental quality. This week, the municipality and the mayor received a formal notice from the Nexus company for denouncing the incessant comings and goings of trucks depositing soil in Mohawk territory, along the river, without having the green light from the Mohawk band council.
The mayor’s exasperation is palpable: “It’s always linked to the inaction of governments. Word gets around, and there they come and leave it near the indigenous territory, as if he knew that here he could do what they wanted. »
“For us, this is not the first time,” says Mayor Benoit Proulx. During the spring, the municipality of 7,000 people had to intervene three times. “The other times it was a boat and some garbage, like old tires or barrels with substances. But there was no spill. »
Mr. Proulx believes that this environmental vandalism is a form of intimidation. “It seems like there is someone who wants to make our lives difficult and incur costs,” he says, adding that cleaning up such a spill represents costs that can exceed $30,000.
In recent years, Saint-Joseph-du-Lac has made headlines for acts of intimidation against an elected official and a city employee. In September 2021, two vehicles of the municipal director general were set on fire. A week later, it was the turn of a municipal councilor’s vehicle to be set on fire in front of her residence. The Sûreté du Québec investigation did not lead to any charges.
