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Submission

PCB Treatment in Grandes-Piles, Quebec

Submission ID: SEM-11-001
Party concerned: Canada
Date filed: January 11, 2011
Submission Status: Closed

Latest Update: April 12, 2012

Under guideline 14.1, the Secretariat proceeded no further with the submission and so informed to Council.

Summary of the matter addressed in the submission:

The Submitter asserts that Canada, and more specifically the province of Québec, is failing to effectively enforce Québec’s Environment Quality Act (“Act” or “EQA”) and the Regulation Respecting the Burial of Contaminated Soils (“Regulations”) by issuing a permit for the use of chemical oxidation to treat PCB-contaminated soils without evidence that the process works.

The Submitter states that a study carried out by experts found no evidence that outside a laboratory context, at a commercial scale, chemical oxidation can reduce PCB concentrations in contaminated soils to meet maximum levels for landfilling set by the Act and Regulations. The Submitter asserts that Canada is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law, in this case, s. 24 of the EQA, which provides that the Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, and Parks (MSDEP) of Quebec shall, before giving his or her approval to an application for a certificate of authorization, ascertain that the emission, deposit, issuance or discharge of contaminants into the environment will comply with applicable legislation and will not harm the environment.

Names and citations of the environmental laws in question:

The Québec Environment Quality Act and the Regulation Respecting the Burial of Contaminated Soils ("Regulations")

Submitter(s):

Bennett Environmental Inc.

Submission Timeline

January 11, 2011

The Secretariat received a submission and began a preliminary analysis of it under the guidelines.

Submission - Submission authored by Submitter(s) on 11/01/2011

Acknowledgement - Communication to Submitter(s) authored by Secretariat on 12/01/2011

Annex - Other document authored by Individual or entity named in Submission on 09/09/2009

Annex - Other document authored by Individual or entity named in Submission on 14/06/2010

Annex - Other document authored by Individual or entity named in Submission on 13/11/2009

Annex - Other document authored by Individual or entity named in Submission on 30/09/2010

February 11, 2011

The Secretariat notified the submitter(s) that the submission did not meet all of the Article 14(1) criteria and the submitter(s) had 30 days to provide the Secretariat with a revised submission that conforms with Article 14(1).

Determination - Secretariat Determination under Article 14 (1) authored by Secretariat on 11/02/2011

March 7, 2011

The Secretariat received more information from submitter(s).

Other Documents - Other document authored by Submitter(s) on 07/03/2011

Acknowledgement - Communication to Submitter(s) authored by Secretariat on 08/03/2011

April 12, 2012

Under guideline 14.1, the Secretariat proceeded no further with the submission and so informed to Council.

Determination - Secretariat Determination under Article 14 (1) authored by Secretariat on 12/04/2012