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At a meeting that brought together several governmental authorities to share information on Terrapure last Friday, Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) grand chief Cody Diabo demanded a greater say for Kahnawake when it comes to industrial activities in the region.
“I told them they are still guests on our land, and quite frankly they are destroying it every day, and enough is enough now,” said Diabo in an interview with The Eastern Door, adding that the MCK needs to be involved in any conversations about industrial facilities operating within the area of the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis land grievance.
The community has numerous environmental concerns about these kinds of operations, he emphasized.
“Kahnawake and the community do not want to see industrial buildings along our boundaries or in our territory without us having information about them, so in our view, all industrial activity needs to stop immediately,” he said.
“Any authorizations for expansions of any type of industries need to go through Kahnawake, and we need to decide whether that will happen on our land. That was the message going into it, and I think that set the tone for the rest of the meeting.”
Terrapure, a battery recycling plant bordering Kahnawake at the Ste. Catherine industrial park, has been under fire in recent weeks, starting with the revelation that it had been charged more than 50 times under the Fisheries Act for allegedly dumping toxic water into the St. Lawrence Seaway between 2020 and 2023.
Ste. Catherine has also been charged under the Fisheries Act, standing accused of permitting Terrapure’s alleged violations.
Subsequently, unpublished regional inspection reports obtained by Radio-Canada in access to information requests revealed concerns about workers being exposed to lead, which is considered unsafe in any amount.
The plant had previously been on Kahnawake’s radar due to air quality issues in the area, with many local residents blaming the facility.
Kahnawake expressed consternation when it was not initially invited to the intergovernmental meeting that took place in Ste. Catherine last Friday at the city’s request. However, upon visiting the MCK two weeks ago, Ste. Catherine mayor Sylvain Bouchard made clear that Kahnawake would be welcome at the session, which aimed to boost communication about the Terrapure issue.
“It is time for the different levels of government to collaborate more efficiently in order to have a global and structured vision of the impacts of such a plant,” Bouchard said in a press release issued this week summarizing the meeting.
That press release made clear that the MCK will sit on an intergovernmental working committee relating to Terrapure, meant to increase information sharing and develop an action plan.
Both Diabo and Ste. Catherine expressed a need for more information to back up the claim of government authorities present at the meeting that there is no immediate threat to public health.
“For us, we think they need to do a bigger dive in,” said Diabo, who said commitments were made at the meeting for reports to be shared with the Kahnawake Environment Protection Office (KEPO).
In a statement provided to The Eastern Door, a representative of Monteregie’s public health department, Chantal Vallée, said the department has been monitoring the situation closely for years alongside partners.
Vallée said that based on available data and monitoring, much of it provided by Quebec’s environment ministry, emissions for several contaminants comply with established standards.
“Therefore, the available data do not suggest any immediate risks to public health. We are continuing active monitoring to maintain this level of safety and prevent any deterioration,” said Vallée.
“The situation is different for the company’s workers, for whom lead exposure is a concern,” added Vallée, who said the department works closely with Quebec’s labour standards commission (CNESST).
“We will collaborate with the working group, which will facilitate the sharing of data and expertise to develop solutions within the framework of each party’s roles and responsibilities,” Vallée said.
Diabo described the session as a “hot potato” meeting, which showed how different government entities seem to be working in silos, revealing a need for better information sharing. He said the soil and air quality sampling Kahnawake has done over the years are also important for government departments to review.
Commitments were made to ensure Kahnawake gets the information it needs to make its own assessments about the dangers posed by the plant, Diabo said, but he wants to see those promises fulfilled.
Overall, he signalled there’s much work ahead on this issue.
“It’s a good first step forward but there’s many steps ahead of us for sure,” Diabo said.
The meeting additionally included Environment Canada, Quebec’s environment and public security ministries, CNESST, the regional municipal county (MRC) of Roussillon, the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, representatives of members of federal and provincial parliament, and others.
marcus@easterndoor.com
Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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