DDO residents rally against proposed Hydro-Québec power lines

About 100 concerned residents in Dollards-des-Ormeaux in Montreal's West Island gathered in front of a Hydro-Québec substation in protest of plans to build electrical towers.

Protesters at the Sunday rally said Hydro-Québec's plan to build 16-storey 315 kilovolts transmission lines would be a blight in the residential neighbourhood, devaluing properties along de Salaberry Boulevard, causing health and environmental problems, and possibly noise pollution.

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They gathered at Hydro-Québec's Saint-Jean substation on the corner of de Salaberry and St-Jean boulevards, which the company also plans to expand.

Hydro-Québec says it needs to build the power lines to meet growing demand in the West Island.

"We understand the need for more power. We understand the need to upgrade the grid. We also feel that, in this day and age, it's socially irresponsible to build 52-metre pylons, with 315 kilovolts running through them, in a densely-populated area," Lynette Gilbeau, a member of the group Build it Underground DDO, which organized the event.

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Gilbeau says Hydro-Québec has not held any public consultations on the project.

"Not a single person knew about it from the outset," she said.

She says she's spent the last two years telling residents about the plan and has now gathered over 2,000 signatures against the project.

Now residents want the utility to build the power lines underground — a proposition that's backed by city council.

Errol Johnson, a Dollards-des-Ormeaux city councillor, said the project was a "monstrosity" and an "ugly site to look at in the middle of our town."

He said Hydro-Québec was "playing us around" by making it seem that the cost of burying the lines underground would be "astronomical" — up to $60 million.

"When we did our research we found that it was half of what they were previously saying it would cost," he said.

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"But the point is that, it should not be in terms of dollars, it should be in terms of people's health and the effect is has on the environment in general."

Quebec's environmental review agency, BAPE, has been holding hearings on the proposed project since April and is set to hold another one this coming Tuesday.

BAPE is expected to submit its recommendations to the environment ministry by Aug. 17.