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One hurdle to the cleanup of the toxic G&R Recycling site has been cleared after Robert and Gary Gabriel, the dump’s owners, signed a letter promising not to interfere with workers there.
“This is a big step forward when it comes to the remediation of the site,” said Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) chief Serge Otsi Simon. “It’s up to the federal government at this point.”
The stagnant condition of the site has incensed Kanehsata’kehró:non for years since the extent of contamination and regulatory violations there was first revealed. Progress has continued to be glacial even after an anonymous group of Kanesatake whistleblowers succeeded in amping up the political pressure by attracting a renewed wave of coverage from mainstream media in spring 2023.
Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) has committed to financial support for the initial cleanup steps, but initially the department asked that all seven Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) chiefs agree on a plan. This requirement was lifted, however, after it became very clear that consensus was impossible due to the depth of the fracture between the Council majority and MCK grand chief Victor Bonspille.
A majority of Council passed a band council resolution last year that chose W8banaki to coordinate a characterization study, against the wishes of Bonspille.
The grand chief instead tried to facilitate an MCK takeover of the G&R land, which the Gabriels agreed to, without informing the rest of Council. However, this was blocked by the Council majority when they discovered the attempted transfer. These chiefs cited liability concerns – remediation of the site is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars.
Although the government decided to support Council moving ahead with W8banaki without requiring the transfer of the land to the MCK, a non-interference letter was required to facilitate the work necessary for a characterization study.
The Gabriels were not inclined to sign this, however, with Robert at the time telling The Eastern Door that he did not want to get involved with Council infighting and that he would sign it if all the chiefs agreed. He also maintains he and Gary had already signed similar documents in the past.
However, the brothers relented last month and finally signed the document.
“I just wanted to put a rest to this whole fucking problem that we have here and have it over with,” said Robert. “I’ve been cooperating with Canada, the Council. I don’t know what else to say. We’ve said everything.”
Cost estimates to date have varied, he said. “I think Canada and the Council want a more definite what it’s going to be. In the meantime, I’m still doing the work that Canada asked me to do, and we’ve got plans in place to start some of the remediation of the stuff.”
Simon said W8banaki has been preparing for the job but that they were waiting for this letter before moving forward with the preliminary work.
“They’re going to send in their professionals, analyze what’s in the site, and come up with a game plan on how expensive the decontamination will be and what resources they’re going to need to clean that up,” said Simon.
“Hopefully in the next three, four years that site is going to be nothing but a bad memory.”
marcus@easterndoor.com
The Eastern Door
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