Illegal soil dumping: Oka residents prepare to take matters into their own hands

A group of residents in Oka, Que., is gearing up to take action on their own if authorities fail to do more to halt the illegal dumping of potentially contaminated soil in and around the neighboring First Nations community of Kanesatake, northwest of Montreal.

“That (problem) is just going bigger and bigger and it’s getting out of control,” explains Julie Tremblay-Cloutier, spokesperson for the community group ReconciliAction Kanesatake/Oka.

“Just a month ago we had drum barrels that were dumped on a farmer’s land in Kanesatake during the night, and it was full of toxic waste.”

They feel that governments are not taking sufficient action, so out of frustration, they received training on Sunday on how to use non-violent methods to stop the trucks from dumping the waste.

Michel Gélinas, a resident of Oka, mentioned that dumping has been ongoing for years at various sites.

“The quantities are enormous,” he told Global News. “There’s no two ways about it, and there are other communities around Montreal that might also be affected.”

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Residents are concerned about a potential environmental disaster.

The training on Sunday aimed to put pressure on Quebec’s public security minister François Bonnardel to take action.

Tremblay-Cloutier explained, “Those trucks actually carry materials from construction sites and don’t go through Traces Quebec, which is a program that was put into place to control the materials coming from the construction sites.”

The general sentiment among residents and supporters is that a sense of impunity has fueled the illegal dumping. With no police service in Kanesatake and inadequate patrolling by provincial police, the situation has worsened.

In the past, members of the Mohawk community have been hesitant to speak out about the dumping issue due to fear of reprisals. Despite the absence of community members at Sunday’s training, Mohawk leadership has expressed feeling abandoned by the government.

“The community is hostage to the problem because there is nobody to protect them,” Tremblay-Cloutier said.

Kanesatake Grand Chief Victor Bonspeille expressed support for any peaceful protest against the dumping that raises awareness of the issue.

The Quebec government claims to be taking action. Last week, officials were at the site collecting soil samples from trucks heading to Kanesatake. Inspectors had also examined the shores around Lake of Two Mountains the week before, where trucks had dumped potentially contaminated soil.

However, those at Sunday’s training demand more decisive action, and until that occurs, they are prepared.

“We don’t want to endanger anyone,” emphasized trainer Philippe Duhamel, “but people are now prepared to take action that our government has failed to take diligently.”

Oka residents hope it doesn’t come to that.

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