September 3, 2014: As required by the Fisheries Act, the City of Montreal informs Environment Canada (EC) of its plan to discharge eight billion litres of untreated wastewater in the St. Lawrence River in October 2015; in order to do maintenance and construction work.
February 27, 2015: The ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques (MDDELCC) issues a certificate of authorization for the proposed work and the temporary closing of the southeast interceptor.
September 16, 2015: The City of Montreal sends an email to the province of Quebec, advising them of the City’s planned discharge. EC Enforcement is copied on the email.
September 28, 2015: The Environmental Enforcement Division (EED) of EC informs the City of Montreal that its wastewater treatment system is subject to WSER and that the City must speak to the Wastewater Program about applying for a Temporary Authorization to Bypass under the WSER.
September 29, 2015: City of Montreal officials contact the Environmental Stewardship Branch Wastewater Program about the WSER and provide information about the project.
On October 2, 2015, the Environmental Stewardship Branch Wastewater Program official informs City of Montreal officials in writing that WSER does not include a mechanism to authorize the type of project being proposed.
October 8, 2015: The Grand Conseil de la Nation Waban-Aki (GCNWA) writes to the ECCC Minister to express its concern about the untreated wastewater discharge planned by the City of Montreal. The GCNWA considers that the duty to consult Indigenous communities is triggered and that the Governments of Quebec and Canada have to consult the Abenaki before authorizing the discharge.
October 8, 2015: The EC Minister asks the City of Montreal to provide information invoking subsection 37(2) of the Fisheries Act; and representatives from EC meet with the City of Montreal, and the Government of Quebec to review the information.
October 8, 2015: The MDDELCC publishes a document online called
“Travaux prévus à l’intercepteur sud-est du réseau d’égout de Montréal en
2015 : considérations environnementales”. This document presents the technical, regulatory, and environmental outline of the project.
October 14, 2015: The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) writes to the Minister of EC to express its concerns about the City of Montreal’s planned discharge of untreated wastewater. The MCK believes that the legal duty to consult Indigenous groups has been triggered and that the Governments of Quebec and Canada must consult the Mohawk people before authorizing the discharge.
October 14, 2015: The EC Minister notifies the City of Montreal that she is planning to issue an interim Ministerial Order under subsection 37(2) of the Fisheries Act.
The City of Montreal has until October 16 to make representations to the Minister.
October 16, 2015: The Mayor of Montreal responds to the EC Minister, expressing concerns about the interim Ministerial Order.
The EC Minister issues an interim Ministerial Order to prevent the City of Montreal from carrying out the planned discharge, pending the results of an independent scientific review.
October 18, 2015: The EC Minister mandates an independent scientific panel to review the City of Montreal’s planned discharge of eight (8) billion litres of untreated wastewater into the St. Lawrence River.
October 19, 2015: Representatives of EC meet with the panel to begin the review of the City of Montreal’s plan.
October 19, 2015: Federal election.
October 23, 2015: Representatives of the City of Montreal brief the panel on the project, with EC representatives in attendance.
October 28, 2015: The outgoing EC Minister delegates the decision on this file to the future Minister of the Environment.
October 29, 2015: The interim Ministerial Order is extended to November 9, 2015.
October 29, 2015: Representatives of the Mohawk First Nations (Kahnawake, Akwesasne and Kanesatake) and Abenaki First Nations (Odanak, Wôlinak) meet with EC representatives and the panel.
October 30, 2015: EC receives the panel’s report.
The findings indicate that the planned discharge of untreated wastewater by the City of Montreal is not an ideal solution, but, that the possibility of an unanticipated discharge represents an even greater environmental risk.
Additional mitigation measures, as well as alternative measures for future incidents, are proposed.
November 2, 2015: An amendment to the Ministerial Order is issued, extending the suspension of the discharge until the end of the day on November 9, 2015, to give EC time to conduct a comprehensive review of the panel’s findings.
November 4, 2015: Swearing-in of the new Ministry (Cabinet). Catherine McKenna is appointed Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
November 6, 2015: Scientific experts from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) hold two technical briefings on the panel’s findings: one for representatives of the Indigenous communities, the City of Montreal, and the Province, and the other for media representatives.
November 6, 2015: The Minister of ECCC reaches out to Clinton Phillips, Chief of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake; Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal; and her Quebec counterpart, David Heurtel, Minister of the MDDELCC.
November 7, 2015: The Minister of ECCC writes to the Indigenous communities, requesting their comments on the draft Ministerial Order she is planning to issue under the Fisheries Act.
November 9, 2015: Under subsection 37(2) of the Fisheries Act, the Minister issues a Ministerial Order requiring the City of Montreal to modify its plan to discharge untreated wastewater into the St. Lawrence River. The Order requires the City of Montreal to:
prepare and have in place a management plan with respect to unanticipated discharges from large industrial, institutional or commercial facilities to the City of Montreal’s sewers during the construction period;
carry out visual surveillance during the discharge and take all necessary actions to clean affected areas;
increase monitoring of water quality, sediment and plants before, during and after the discharge and communicate the monitoring data to ECCC; and
participate in a comprehensive review of the events leading to the incident, which will be led by ECCC and will also include affected First Nations, the Province, the City and other parties involved, reflecting the commitment to establishing and maintaining respectful relations with First Nations.
November 10, 2015: The Quebec government publishes its control and monitoring plan, the purpose of which is to ensure compliance with the conditions set out in the certificate of authorization issued to the City of Montreal to reduce the environmental impact of the work, and to protect the health and safety of residents. The plan will be implemented starting November 11, 2015.
November 10, 2015: The City of Montreal begins releasing untreated wastewater in order to start the repair work.
November 15, 2015: The City of Montreal announces that the work has been completed sooner than expected and that approximately five (5) billion litres have been discharged, less than initially estimated.
Water samples show that bacteriological levels remained within the anticipated range during the discharge.
December 15, 2015: The Minister of ECCC meets with the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake to discuss the file.
December 15 and 16, 2015: ECCC holds two briefings for the Mohawk and Abenaki First Nations. The City of Montreal presents its wastewater system and a summary of the work carried out in November 2015.
