The $31.4 million project, which originally favored the expansion of the Domaine Forest water treatment plant, now seems to be transformed into the construction of a new plant, on another land, the costs being comparable for the two scenarios.
“The issue,” explains Daniel Veilleux, mayor of Saint-Denis-de-Brompton, “is that we want to add residences supplied by the water treatment plant. We see in the medium and long term and, with the growth of the municipality, our objective is to be able to serve 1,000 residences.
The building and equipment of the Domaine Forest factory belong to the municipality, while the land is private.
“We must therefore ask permission to expand the factory. In addition, during the modifications, we must continue to supply residents who are already on the network. Building a new factory then becomes simpler and more favorable.”
— Mayor Daniel Veilleux
New major challenge
The natural presence of asbestos constitutes an imposing challenge for the future. “We are working in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment to try to put in place mitigation measures to avoid additional costs that the project could generate.”
In his intervention guide Soil protection and rehabilitation of contaminated landthe Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change indicates “that any soil containing asbestos, even in traces (≤ 0.1%), represents a risk for human health and the environment in general “.
However, around ten drillings in the sectors concerned revealed asbestos concentrations between 0.1% and 4%.
“The status quo is not an option for us. Exemptions have been made in other municipalities. We are hopeful that the government will hear our concerns to help us either financially with additional subsidies, or by accepting our mitigation measures,” underlines Mr. Veilleux, adding that the municipality does business with a firm specializing in the field. to help him complete the project.
Urban perimeter
Moreover, to reduce costs and have access to more subsidies, the municipality of Saint-Denis-de-Brompton is currently evaluating the option of modifying its resort perimeter in an urban environment.
“To enable this change, we called on a specialized urban planning firm. We then presented a development plan to the MRC which represents the two sectors and which meets the criteria to qualify as an urban environment.
— Daniel Veilleux
Daniel Veilleux assures that these subsidies could allow them to move forward, especially if the asbestos problems are not resolved as he would have liked. “It’s already been a few months since we started everything with the MRC. We would like to have the result around the spring, but it may be closer to the fall before everything will be made official.”
During Monday’s presentation, which brought together around a hundred people on site, according to Mr. Veilleux, the municipality revealed the schedule which was somewhat delayed. The session was also recorded for those who were unable to attend.
“This is a project that has been on the table for four years already. There is a certain delay of 6 to 9 months, in particular due to asbestos issues and changes to the perimeter. However, we are on a good path, explains the mayor. We are working hard to say that at the beginning of 2027, everything will be finished.”
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