Contamination confirmed, injunction sought in Kanesatake dumping

Quebec is seeking an emergency injunction against nearly 20 defendants, mostly Kanehsata’kehró:non, revealing that soils used to illegally fill in lots on the Lake of Two Mountains were contaminated, confirming long-held suspicions.

The application emphasizes the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and petroleum hydrocarbons in landfill deposited there.

“These illegal activities on the shore and coastline constitute a risk for living organisms, for the health of the aquatic ecosystem near the targeted locations, and are a serious threat to the quality of the environment,” reads the application for the court order.

It’s just the latest development in an episode that has plagued Kanesatake, with hundreds of dump trucks a day at times beleaguering the territory.

The situation reflects a years-long pattern of environmental abuse in Kanesatake, mostly driven by outside entities attracted by the prospect of cheap disposal of toxic construction waste - the community’s rules, territory, and health be damned - as G&R Recycling continues to languish over a year after a federal minister called it a potential “environmental bomb.”

There was a brief hearing at the St. Jerome Courthouse on Wednesday morning to consider the injunction, but it was adjourned until October 7 to give defendants time to find representation, meaning an injunction will not be granted before that date.

Meanwhile, according to Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) chief Brant Etienne, a few lots have seen a flurry of activity as trucks coming from construction sites across the region appear to be hustling to capitalize on what could be the last gasp of a dumping free-for-all on the coastline.

The soil samples cited by Quebec’s attorney general were collected as part of Operation GRAVIER, the name given to the August 27-30 operation that saw provincial environment ministry inspectors, wildlife protection officers, and police descend on the territory to finally conduct the tests.

In the application for a court order, the government outlines its fears that erosion or rain could cause particles to wash into the lake, blocking light to plant life and harming the eggs of invertebrates and fish, hampering spawning activities and reducing the number of fish in the lake.

“The quantity of soil deposited in the bank and the coastline on these sites is constantly increasing given the large number of trucks accessing them each day,” the application reads.

The August soil testing operation came months after a previous sampling attempt was abandoned by the ministry on the advice of the Surete du Quebec. This is because two MCK chiefs, Etienne and Serge Otsi Simon, were subject to a physical confrontation on one of the lots.

While the ministry has been tight-lipped about the direction of Operation GRAVIER, the application for an injunction reveals new details about their tactics and findings - and pace.

Court documents reveal that a sampling attempt in December 2023 was called off and not attempted again until May.

According to the application, the Quebec environment ministry first received reports of the current dumping wave in fall 2023 (described elsewhere as late summer 2023) but did not know this activity was happening on the coastline.

In October 2023, a soil sample taken from a dump truck heading to Kanesatake revealed contamination.

The week of December 11, 2023, nearly nine months before testing finally confirmed contamination of landfill on the shore of the Lake of Two Mountains, the ministry “intended to carry out a soil sampling campaign” to determine the veracity of contamination allegations but cancelled it due to weather.

In February 2024, new reports about the dumping of potentially contaminated soils arrived, leading to the planning of a ground operation for May, which was halted after concerns emerged about the safety of participants, a reference to the episode involving Etienne and Simon.

The ministry sent letters in June to companies involved in transporting soil in the Montreal area, advising the businesses that no location in Kanesatake is authorized to accept residual materials or contaminated soil. The development of Operation GRAVIER began the same month.

“Despite the efforts of the ministry to put an end to illegal activities, in particular the dumping of contaminated soils on the shore and coastline of the Kanesatake territory, the situation continues to this day,” the application reads.

The court documents allege that the defendants were involved in carrying out unauthorized work on the shoreline, whether landfilling with soil or rock, deforestation, or construction - including erecting casinos and cannabis stores.

The application for an interlocutory injunction asks that the Superior Court of Quebec immediately order an end to all unauthorized activities on the shoreline that threaten the environment and wildlife given the urgency of the situation.

The court is also asked to order, at the stage of a permanent injunction, the restoration of the coastline within six months and the removal and proper disposal of contaminated soil.

A sworn declaration by Alain Rochon, a regional director of a Quebec environment ministry department, blames the MCK fracture into two factions as partially responsible for delays.

A criminal investigator was assigned by the ministry to the dumping situation on June 25; his declaration notes reports of more than 500 trucks per day at one point.

“As everybody knows, as the community’s been calling for, we’ve been asking the government that the dumping into the lake has to stop,” said Etienne.

He noted that some community members on the list of defendants may have only a tangential connection to the dumping, however. “I wouldn’t say everybody on the list of persons that were served with the injunction are necessarily responsible for it.”

Etienne also pointed out that there are lot holders on the territory who have accepted the contaminated soil who are not targeted by this action, given that the ministry operation has only targeted the shoreline.

Asked whether he is upset that so few outside actors are included in the injunction, he said that while external individuals and entities are largely to blame, he believes the intervention is a necessary step to ensure effective enforcement in the short-term.

“The root is, essentially, greed. There are just different actors involved. Some are community members. The majority of them are outsiders. Finding a way to tackle that is going to take time,” he said.

“For now this is a beginning. I’m not going to rain on that parade.”

Two companies are named in the injunction: Excavation Denis Dagenais and Les Entreprises Translogik.

Nexus Construction, whose logo was visible on many of the dump trucks that streamed into the territory, is not named.

The list of defendants includes G&R Recycling co-owner Robert Gabriel, who owns High Times, which was built on the embankment. According to documents, he admitted to an investigator that “he believes he dumped about 20 semi-trailer loads of rocks of varying sizes into the fish habitat.”

Other defendants named include former MCK chief Garry Carbonnell, Allison Mary Theresa Otistokwate Meloche, Aaron Craig Waiakeron Cree, Jennifer Katsitsenientha Lessard, Blake Freeman, Amanda-Marie Irène Freeman, Timothy George Henry Etienne, Elaine Patricia Daye, Jessie Jean Nelson, Karen Margaret Conway, Stewart Brian Conway, Jacques Normand Theoret, Myrlyn Sandra Bonspille, Martin Gilbert Larente, Joshua Smith-Gabriel, and Marie Denise Lyne Simon.

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