MONTREAL, Feb. 19, 2020 /CNW/ - After two years of legal debates, the municipality of Grenville-sur-la-Rouge announces that it has reached an agreement with the exploration company Canada Carbon Inc. (CCB). The agreement puts an end to the lawsuits including the $96 million lawsuits; it does not guarantee the social acceptability of the project, nor does it solve the problem with mining laws in Quebec.
"This is the end of one chapter and the beginning of another for this project, which has yet to achieve social acceptability. We will continue to act in the interest of the health, the safety and the environment of our citizens," said Thomas Arnold, Mayor of Grenville-sur-la-Rouge.
The agreement also includes five components which bring the following benefits to the citizens of Grenville-sur-la-Rouge:
- The $ 96M lawsuit is abandoned, thus allowing the citizens once again their right to speak without fear;
- The end of all related legal costs;
- CCB undertakes to submit the project to Quebec's Office for Public Hearings on Environment (BAPE);
- If, after a favorable BAPE process, the project was to obtain social acceptability from our citizens, and be authorized by the government, CCB would also have to comply with more stringent standards, including the hours of operation (blasting and crushing) limited to between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm weekdays;
- CCB will also have to assume its share of the costs related to bringing municipal roads, namely Scotch Road, to the required standard to make them compliant and safe, and this before the start of operations.
For the municipal council, this agreement ensures better management of the economic, environmental, and social risks that this project poses for this small municipality of 2,800 inhabitants.
"Quebec must learn from this whole saga. The Legault government must strengthen existing laws so that other municipalities do not have to endure what we have suffered. Municipal laws must take precedence over the law of mines, not vice versa.", Tom Arnold insists.
Keep in mind that the related decision on the $96M lawsuit, as to whether or not the nature of the lawsuit would be considered a SLAP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), has remained pending before the Quebec Court of Appeal since August 2019. All municipal governments are anxiously awaiting the judgment.
The municipality wishes to thank the 150 or so Quebec municipalities and organizations which have supported it in its efforts thus far.
SOURCE Grenville-sur-la-Rouge
