Quebec Superior Court rejects Blainville's injunction request against Stablex expansion
A week after province adopts law, court says city's injunction request has weak legal basis
Quebec Superior Court has rejected the City of Blainville's request for an injunction to suspend the expropriation of protected land for the expansion of a hazardous waste landfill site owned by Stablex, an American company.
The decision was released Wednesday, about a week after the provincial government pushed through a bill that will allow the owners of the landfill to expand the facility for an additional 40 years of storage.
According to Superior Court documents, the injunction request was rejected, in part, because of the pressing public need for Stablex's services and to prepare the site.
The expansion work on the disputed land is expected to begin shortly, as the clearing must be completed before April 15, the date new federal regulations on migratory birds come into effect.
The ruling says granting a stay or injunction would cause "real and significant harm to the public interest," and though sympathetic to Blainville's arguments, the city is essentially questioning whether lawmakers made the appropriate decision. This doesn't provide enough reason for the court to delay or pause the decision, the ruling says.
Premier François Legault convened a special assembly last Thursday to complete the review process for Bill 93. The session continued overnight, and the bill was finally adopted by a vote of 61 to 31 on Friday.
The three opposition parties rejected the bill, which also grants extraordinary powers to the government and does not allow "any judicial review provided for in the Code of Civil Procedure" except on a question of jurisdiction.
Stablex and the Coaltion Avenir Québec (CAQ) government have been locked in a public dispute with the City of Blainville about expanding the facility that treats and buries toxic waste, contaminated soil and other hazardous materials north of Montreal.
The site is the only one of its kind in Quebec, and Stablex says if it doesn't start work on the expansion project next month, it may have to suspend operations.
The contentious legislation passed by the Quebec government expropriates land from Blainville to enable Stablex to expand its hazardous waste disposal operations.
Shortly after the province's decision, the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) and the City of Blainville announced they were asking the Superior Court to suspend the law while its legality is validated.
On the social media platform X, Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette said the court recognized that work must begin in order to avoid a service disruption in the safe treatment of hazardous residual materials.
"As a responsible government, we had to pass Bill 93 to avoid a breakdown in service," he said.
Stablex will now be able to begin preparatory work while waiting for the matter to be studied in detail by the court, in order to avoid a delay which could not be repaired, he said.
The CMM and City of Blainville issued a joint statement Wednesday, saying: "While we are disappointed, we will conduct a thorough review of the decision with our legal advisors to determine the next steps."
Written by Isaac Olson