Three national organizations join SOS Wakefield on the A-5 extension to Wakefield
Three national organizations join SOS Wakefield on the A-5 extension to Wakefield
Three national organizations join SOS Wakefield today to speak with one voice on the A-5 extension to Wakefield: Québec’s 1986 environmental assessment is a generation out of date, leaving the Wakefield spring at risk and the public without a voice.
January 4, 2011
This morning, a coalition of groups is gathering at the spring in Wakefield to announce their next step in the campaign to protect this beautiful Québec community from inappropriate and unsustainable highway development in the form of the proposed highway A-5 extension.
Lawyer Will Amos of the University of Ottawa-Ecojustice Environmental Law Clinic will read from a 10-page legal “demand letter” sent today on behalf of SOS Wakefield – the group representing over 2800 local citizens working to ensure that their water source is protected – to Québec Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Mr. Pierre Arcand. The letter calls on Minister Arcand to order a new environmental impact assessment (EA) given that his government’s decision to move forward on the highway extension is based on an out of date assessment undertaken back in 1986.
“The changing legal context in Quebec, which includes new laws on sustainable development and groundwater protection, as well as the growing public recognition that the Wakefield spring may be at risk, mean that a new provincial environmental assessment is clearly warranted before any further certificates or permits are granted by Minister Arcand,” says Will Amos. “If the government grants further permits without revisiting the environmental assessment, they may be avoiding obligations set out in the laws that they themselves passed over the last decade,” he adds.
Peter Andrée, chair of SOS Wakefield, agrees: “A new provincial environmental assessment is exactly what we need here. This new EA must include consideration of a variety of design options for the entrance to Wakefield, as well as a full public consultation process through Quebec’s Bureau D’audiences Publiques sur l’Environnement. These aspects have been sorely lacking in the federal EA that was released just before Christmas.”
The federal screening report to which Andrée refers, released by Transport Canada on December 22, is woefully inadequate when it comes to assessing potential impacts on the Wakefield spring. While it recognizes that the Vallée Verde aquifer is at risk from road salt contamination and the rock cuts planned for highway construction, it fails to provide any new data on how these impacts will affect the Wakefield spring. Instead, the screening report only promises annual water tests for two years after construction to determine impacts and a promise to replace the spring with a well if necessary.“The federal EA simply raises more questions than answers. We are now looking to the province for real answers to ensure that the spring and its aquifer are protected” notes SOS Wakefield steering committee member Philippe Cappeliez.
Mark Calzavara, Québec organizer for the Council of Canadians, an organization that campaigns nationally on issues related to the protection of public water sources and groundwater in particular, states: “Clearly the Wakefield spring, a source of potable water for over 5000 people, deserves better consideration than this. We are committed to working with SOS Wakefield to ensure that the Wakefield spring is protected by standing with them in their legal request for Minister Arcand’s intervention.”
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is equally concerned. “A new provincial environmental assessment, carrying out an in-depth study of the area, should ensure the land and water around Wakefield is safe-guarded,” stated Muriel How of CPAWS.
“The adverse effects of the highway will upset the ecological integrity of Gatineau Park required to keep it healthy. Municipalities across the country now recognize the need for connectivity between natural areas. This highway will seriously disturb this need. Wildlife from the park will lose their corridor to the river. All governments must be more adaptable and prepared to be flexible with old plans to ensure they respect present environmental issues and don’t cause far-reaching damage to a given area, as this new
highway does.”
“The Quebec government is getting hit on all sides these days on their environmental record. A renewed EA on the A-5 extension would be just one small sign that they are trying to improve their environmental track record,” noted Carolyn McAskie, former UN diplomat and SOS Wakefield steering committee member.
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Media Contact:
Laurie Gough
laurie@lauriegough.com
819-459-1552
OR:
Peter Andrée, Chair
SOS Wakefield (La Pêche) Steering Committee
33 Chemin Gendron, La Pêche
Québec
J0X 3G0
pandree@nexicom.net
819-459-1450
Also available for media interviews:
William Amos, M.A., LL.B/B.C.L.
Director/Directeur
uOttawa-Ecojustice Environmental Law Clinic
University of Ottawa, Leblanc Residence
35 Copernicus St., Rm 110, Ottawa ON K1N 6N5
Tel: 613.562.5800 ext. 3378
Fax: 613.562.5319
wamos@ecojustice.ca
Pour les medias francophones:
Philippe Cappeliez
pcappeliez@gmail.com