Trees cut, holes dug in wetlands
The promoter behind a housing project proposed next door to Kahnawake was issued a warning earlier this fall by Quebec’s environmental ministry after carrying out unauthorized work in a wooded area in Chateauguay made up of wetlands.
That work consisted of geotechnical drilling and the cutting of a few trees, work that should have first been authorized by the environmental ministry, according to an inspection report obtained by The Eastern Door.
That inspection happened earlier this May and came following a complaint filed by a nearby homeowner, said Chantal Payant, who got a copy of the inspection report following an access to information request.
“We saw that there were a lot of holes that had been dug,” said Payant, who’s part of a coalition of citizens in the Chateauguay opposed to the housing project. “There were more than around 20, I would say.
“There were also trees cut, and lanes were created to permit machinery to enter to dig the holes,” she added.
Chateauguay has its eyes set on building upwards of 2,000 housing units on the 28-hectare stretch of land along Highway 30 between St. Jean Baptiste and Pierre Boursier boulevards. The city has promised to conserve at least 30 percent of the wetlands there.
Quebec’s environment ministry shared that the promoter involved has since provided a plan detailing how they intend to correct the damages made thus far to the habitat there.
“This plan includes a reforestation plan in the areas where drilling work was carried out and the filling of drilled holes in particular,” a ministry spokesperson shared in an email. “The ministry will follow up to ensure all these measures were adequately implemented.”
Louis Conrad Migneault said it was a surprise to receive the warning from Quebec’s environmental ministry. The president of AI Développement immobilier, a real estate promoter involved in the project, said they had hired a biologist to delineate the precise location of wetlands there before they began their work.
They had also obtained a permit from the city of Chateauguay granting them permission to cut down the trees, which included six ash trees, he said.
“Additionally, our biologist was tasked with initiating dialogue with the ministry to clarify the exact location of the wetlands there,” Conrad Migneault wrote in an email.
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) is expected to be consulted over the housing project, a process that will be led by the environment ministry, which will be tasked with considering the request to destroy wetlands there.
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“We haven’t gotten any formal notices,” said MCK grand chief Cody Diabo. “That’s stuff we have to follow up on, perhaps putting them on notice that we’re aware and we’re expecting this information to begin a formal consultation process.”
Many in Chateauguay are against the housing project. A recent survey carried out by the city over it garnered 35 responses. Of those, 26 - 74 percent - said they were opposed to it.
