An appropriate and permanent solution to the contamination problem is needed
By Louise Legault, director, Les Amis du parc Meadowbrook with 8 co-signatories*
Since early summer, there has been concern about the fate of the St. Pierre River where it runs through Meadowbrook Golf Course to Lachine. This is one of the rare locations in Montreal where one can still see this historic river which used to flow from the mountain to Verdun, joining the Little St. Pierre River which finally emptied into the St. Lawrence at Pointe-à-Callière, the birthplace of the City of Montreal.
The Supreme Court’s laudable June 2018 decision required the City of Montreal to stop polluting the river, but the issue remained complex.
The City of Montreal knew as early as 2002 that the stream was contaminated, thanks to studies conducted by the Réseau de suivi des milieux aquatiques (RSMA). It was found that the pollution came from the Toe Blake collector that runs from the Town of Mount Royal through Côte Saint-Luc, Montreal and Montreal West and into the Meadowbrook Golf Course at Toe Blake Park in Montreal West. The collector is contaminated by crossed connections in Côte Saint-Luc and Montreal West.
The Supreme Court’s laudable June 2018 decision required the City of Montreal to stop polluting the river, but the issue remained complex.
In 2014, the City of Montreal also conducted a thorough study of the collector, case by case (for a total of 160 manholes) and identified 167 crossed connections in Côte Saint-Luc and 51 in Montreal West. Using this report, the Société pour vaincre la pollution (SVP) located the sectors where the crossed connections were found, as well as the addresses of affected properties. We gave these addresses to the three municipalities involved.
We called for action from the Cities of Montreal, Côte Saint-Luc and Montreal West, as well as the Agglomeration, but received only partial responses. In order to comply with the Supreme Court’s directive giving it until the end of 2019 to stop the pollution, the City of Montreal decided to temporarily deviate the Toe Blake collector upstream from the river, until the crossed connections could be corrected. We are gravely concerned that this solution will become permanent and will cause the river to disappear.
This diversion of the collector during dry periods is a concern for several reasons. It clearly reduces pollution in the stream, but it causes the river to run dry during heatwaves, which we see more frequently because of climate change. This measure causes significant damage to the flora that has established itself along the riverbank since the owner has stopped mowing the grass in this area. The fauna on the river bottom, at the base of the food chain, also struggle to survive under dry conditions. In addition, the entire hydrographic system will be affected, because the river drains the area’s vernal ponds that provide a stopping place for migratory birds on their annual flight. This is a rare and special sight in the heart of Montreal.
‘… the City of Montreal decided to temporarily deviate the Toe Blake collector upstream from the river, until the crossed connections could be corrected. We are gravely concerned that this solution will become permanent and will cause the river to disappear.’
We must save the river while there is a movement to daylight watercourses that have been buried over the years. This will reduce flooding of storm sewers and water treatment costs, while also lowering the temperature in heat islands. Corrections therefore need to be made to the crossed connections and the collector reconnected so that the St. Pierre river can resume its normal course. If we have learned anything from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the urgent need to care for our environment for the benefit of all.
*Signatories:
Laetitia Deudon, doctoral student and environmental history researcher at the Université polytechnique Hauts-de-France/Université de Montréal
Daniel Green, president, Société pour vaincre la pollution
Georges Hébert, STOP
Kregg Hetherington, director, Ethnography Lab, Université Concordia
Catherine Houbart, interim director, Groupe de recommandations et d’actions pour un meilleur environnement (GRAME)
Lisa Mintz, president, Sauvons la Falaise
Gareth Richardson, president, Green Coalition
Emmanuel Rondia, director, Conseil régional de l’environnement de Montréal
Feature image: the St. Pierre River as it crosses Meadowbrook Golf Course, by Andy Dodge
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Louise Legault is a member of the Les Amis du Parc Meadowbrook steering committee. The group has defended the St. Pierre River and the Meadowbrook golf course from residential development for 30 years in order to create a nature park linked to the Falaise Saint-Jacques and the Sud-Ouest through the dalle-parc. lesamisdemeadowbrook.org[/col][/row]
This excellent article draws attention to the real need for Montreal to work seriously on the “daylighting” of its considerable river system. Our leaders, unfortunately, are way behind the times — even when they try not to be. Thank you, Westmount Magazine and Louise Legault, for bringing this important issue to light!
Excellent article. Full of important information that most people in Montreal will not know about. It would be interesting to know about other buried watercourses in Montreal.
You might look into the ruisseau de la Grande-Prairie which use to run in the east end between riviere des Prairies and the St. Lawrence
Thank you, Louise! You should see the loving duck couples that arrive each spring, swim around in the river (brook?) and the huge puddles on the golf course, have their babies and teach them to fly and finally whisk off in mid-June, only to be seen again the next March/April. It is truly a confirmation of life and its resiliency.
Merci Louise,
There is so much to learn about our own city. I wonder sometimes if our elected officials are truly aware of where we stand regarding our waterways and flyways for migratory species.
Until we change our school curriculum to include our impact on our own habitat, there is little hope in creating personal awareness. I believe we have greater knowledge of realities in other countries around the globe than in our own backyards.
All that is left of the St. Pierre River is that section at Meadowbrook and another short wooded section before it empties itself into the St. Lawrence in front of Nun’s Island. Apparently there are beavers there! Amazing how wildlife find their way to these green oasis.