Last month, the Pontiac Sorting Centre was hit with more than $40,000 in fines by the Quebec Ministry of the Environment for several non-compliance issues.

Among those issues were the storage of asphalt shingles outside of an enclosed building, wood and metal materials being stored on a non-asphalt surface and a failure to waterproof the sorting area with the installation of concrete blocks.

It was also revealed that since 2013, the sorting centre has been cited with 10 notices of non-compliance (listed below).

Ministry of the Environment spokesperson Sophie Gauthier said that inspectors also found that the sorting centre failed to take adequate measures for the storage of more than 650 tonnes of residual materials.

Among those residual materials is asbestos.

In an email, Gauthier said that the pile of residual materials includes “construction, renovation and demolition materials and bags containing asbestos-contaminated residual materials.”

According to Pontiac Sorting Centre Director of Operations, Gerry Philippe, the centre has certificates of authorization to operate the sorting centre and to handle asbestos.

According to the ministry, the sorting centre acquired an authorization to install and operate an asbestos removal plant on Oct. 1, 2013.

However, Philippe said the company is still waiting on a third certificate of authorization in order to operate what he called a “technical landfill.”

“At this point in time, we have not done any landfilling,” Philippe said. “That’s why we still have a mountain of debris.”

He said that once the sorting centre is granted the certificate for the landfill, the facility will be better able to dispose of materials.

“As soon as we have that it’s going to be a different ball game,” Philippe said. “The mountain that we have will disappear.”

Landfilling would allow the sorting centre to actually dispose of the asbestos that comes onto the grounds instead of merely storing it temporarily, Philippe said.

He added that once the authorization to landfill has been acquired, the ministry requires the sorting centre to store the asbestos underground on top of a protective and waterproof tarp that prevents leaching into the ground, which will be monitored by engineers on site.

“You don’t just dig a hole and put stuff in,” he said.

As it stands now, Philippe said that the only asbestos the sorting centre accepts comes from demolitions carried out by the construction firm – Amor Construction – where he also serves as director of operations.

“Otherwise, no, we don’t accept it – or very little, anyways,” Philippe said.

The asbestos that is on site is stored in what Philippe said is a “big tent.”

“We simply don’t want the asbestos to get into the air, for example, and that’s why it needs to be stored inside like that,” he added.

Philippe said that there is a very specific protocol when it comes to disposing of asbestos.

“It’s actually double–bagged in special bags,” Philippe said. “And then needs to be buried every day and then you cover it up with soil, but on a daily basis so it doesn’t get into the air.”

“When you start working with asbestos you need to be able to dispose of it on a daily basis and we can’t do that right now because we don’t have a certificate,” Philippe said.

As for the infractions cited by the ministry, Philippe said the sorting centre is in the process of fixing the issues identified.

He said that the asphalt shingles are being stored under a tarp, more concrete blocks are being added to the sorting area, the wood and metal materials are being stored on an asphalt surface, and if the company can secure the landfilling authorization, the pile of residual materials will disappear.

As for the impact the $40,000 fine will have on his business, Philippe said it shouldn’t have much of one.

“Oh not very much,” Philippe said of the fine. “The business is not going to close down because of $40,000.”

Infractions

July 18, 2013

• Having a certificate of authorization for the

establishment of a sorting center, not having complied with the conditions, contravening section 123.1 of the Environment Quality Act

• Undertaking the exercise of an activity likely to result in an emission, a deposit, a release or a release of contaminants, ie: the operation of a boiler of less than 3 MW, without having obtained beforehand a certificate of authorization (Article 22, paragraph 1 EQA)

• Issuing, depositing, releasing, rejecting or permitting the emission, deposit, release of a hazardous material from electronic devices into the environment or into a sewer system (Section 8 of the Hazardous Materials Regulations)

• Do not store hazardous materials (electronics) out of the weather (Section 33 of the Hazardous Materials Regulations)

Aug. 28, 2014 and Nov. 6, 2015