The dangers of asbestos fibre have been well documented – it was declared a human carcinogen by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1987. It has been used in construction as a fire retardant for decades, but exposure to it can cause mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer.
In fact, Canada now has one of the highest rates of mesothelioma cancer in the world.
One major reason could be the federal government’s refusal to ban the substance until October of 2018 – more than 30 years after the WHO declared it as cancerous.
With all this in mind, it comes as a bit of a surprise that the MRC Pontiac council would throw its wholehearted support behind a company that has a less-than-stellar track record of handling this dangerous substance.
The Pontiac Sorting Centre has been cited with 10 notices of non-compliance since 2013 when it comes to its waste handling practices. The company was fined $40,000 by the Ministry of the Environment for several infractions.
One of the most eyebrow-raising of the infractions was the fact that more than 650 tonnes of residual materials were not stored properly.
Among those materials was asbestos.
The sorting centre was granted an authorization to install and operate an asbestos removal plant in October of 2013 and is still waiting for the ministry to respond to its application to operate a “technical landfill” for asbestos.
As it stands now, the sorting centre is home to about 30,000 cubic metres of asbestos contaminated materials – enough to fill 12 Olympic sized swimming pools.
But apparently, all of these run-ins with the ministry of the environment amount to nothing more than an inconvenience according to MRC Pontiac Warden Jane Toller.
“They’ve just had some discouraging times with the ministry of the environment,” Toller said after the MRC council of Mayors meeting on April 17.
It’s a sentiment shared by the Pontiac Sorting Centre’s Director of Operations Gerry Philippe.
“Oh not very much,” Philippe said in February when he was asked if the $40,000 fines from the ministry would have an impact on his business. “The business is not going to close down because of $40,000.”
Toller also touted the fact that the sorting centre has gone from eight to 25 employees as a reason to support the business in it’s pursuit of a certificate to operate a technical asbestos landfill.
“There aren’t many businesses that are employing that many people,” Toller said of the sorting centre.
Are these really the kind of jobs and the kind of business that our region wants to go to bat for?
Asbestos exposure is the number one cause of occupational death in Canada – accounting for around a third of all workplace deaths since 1996.
Are we really that desperate for a few dozen jobs in the region that we’re not only willing to risk the health of those very employees, but residents who live near a facility that handles a carcinogen?
And while the MRC council of mayors have received assurances from the sorting centre that everything is on the up and up, this is still a company that has been non-compliant with environmental regulations 10 times in the last six years. Not exactly a stellar record.
While it’s understandable for the council of mayors to want to help local businesses, maybe a bit more homework needs to be done by those who sit around the council table.
Have any of them spoken with representatives from the ministry of the environment? Or have they just taken the sorting centre brass at their word that “they’re making a lot of positive progress,” as Toller said.
While the economic interests of Pontiac residents are important, shouldn’t health considerations take precedent?
With the sorting centre’s track record when it comes to regulatory compliance, we should all cast a skeptical eye towards this project.
Chris Lowrey
