The lack of a project office, underestimation of social acceptability, gaps in studies and available data: these are the findings of a report by the Vaudreuil-Soulanges MRC on the implementation of a composting platform in Saint-Télesphore.

A report submitted to the MRC council on May 22, a copy of which was made available to Néomédia via an access to information request, outlines the lessons learned following the failure of the implementation project, and proposes a number of possible solutions. The findings raised in the report follow a meeting held on December 8, 2023 between the general management and professionals of the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

Five months later, on May 13, 2024, a meeting was held with the elected municipal officials sitting at the council table. It was at this meeting that they were able to review the points raised at the December 8 meeting and question the MRC's general management and professionals on the issue.

Lack of studies

One of the observations made by MRC professionals was the absence of a project office. According to the report, the fact that no such organization had been set up contributed greatly to the fact that a great deal of geomatic data was unknown at the time the project was announced.

In fact, some of the elements surrounding endangered species and even the esker present on the coveted site were known only to geomaticians not involved in the file. "The endangered species issue is a piece of data, an Info territoire layer that was in our system, but which only the geomaticians were aware of. There's a difference between a layer and the reality on the ground. It was when professionals were added to the file to ensure double validation of all our data that this information arrived, on the same day as the Council's decision to stop going to Saint-Télesphore. The absence of a project office meant that it was not possible to apply the depth of existing geomatic data. This would have provided the information from the outset," the report states.

As for the esker, Hugues Charbonneau, General Manager of the Société de gestion des matières résiduelles de Vaudreuil-Soulanges, had already denounced its presence near the composting platform when the project was launched.

However, it was only 24 hours before the announcement of the project's suspension, on November 22, 2024, that an external expert was commissioned to validate the MRC's data concerning the esker. In less than 24 hours, the expert was able to confirm that the chosen site was unsuitable for a composting platform, partly because of the esker.

The mayor of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Guy Pilon, questioned how, in just a few hours, someone could find major constraints when the file had been in the hands of MRC employees for weeks.

Once again, access to certain databases would explain the situation. The report confirms that "this person had access to a scientific database that we didn't have, and because of his extremely specialized expertise, he was the only one in a position to give us a hypothesis as to the flow rate of the esker".

Politicians involved in site selection?

The report also reveals that Patrick Bousez, MRC prefect and mayor of Rivière-Beaudette, and David Mckay, mayor of Saint-Télesphore, approached at least two owners of sites targeted for the composting platform.

David McKay approached the prefect for a site on Route 325 (sand pit south of Saint-Télesphore), in May or June 2023, for a site visit.

Following constraints expressed by the Saint-Télesphore council and the owner, this site was rejected. (The site is 750 metres from Camping Le Sablon, and the owner of the sand pit is the same as the owner of the Camping, wanting to be the operator of the composting center, which is not permitted under the financial terms of the PTMOBC grant).

At Mr. Charbonneau's request, the prefect and Mr. Mckay contact the owner of another property (Saint-Télesphore's north sand pit), Groupe immobilier A.R. inc., to gauge their interest in selling.

After several meetings, an offer of sale was subsequently submitted to Mr. Beaudoin (editor's note: Guy-Lin Beaudoin, Director General of the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges) by the Groupe immobilier, signed on September 18, 2023, for the sum of $650,000, payable on signing of the deed of sale.

According to the report, this offer to sell was necessary to prepare the application for the Programme de traitement des matières résiduelles par biométhanisation et compostage (PTMOBC) and the borrowing by-law.

Among the other findings that led to the failure of the Saint-Télesphore composting platform, the report mentions the obligation to cross-check, beforehand, the data conveyed by the MRC using internal and external expertise, the need to produce a complete breakdown of project costs and options, the absence of an upstream communication plan and the identification of project risks and mitigation measures.

Although on November 22, in the face of public pressure, elected officials finally decided to suspend the land purchase, a subsidy application was submitted to the Ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs under the PTMOBC program on December 22, 2023, subject to certain conditions, including the identification of a site for the composting platform by the end of 2024.

There is every reason to believe that a new site could be announced within the next few months.

To be read

The UPA de Vaudreuil-Soulanges is delighted that the Saint-Télesphore site is no longer considered

Composting platform: MRC abandons purchase of Saint-Télesphore land

"I wouldn't be surprised if the composting platform never sees the light of day"- Yvon Chiasson

Nearly 1,000 names on petition against composting platform project

Composting platform: MRC to hold new information session

Composting platform: a petition is launched

Composting platform: "Represent us in front of the MRC".

Composting platform: 120 people attend first meeting in Saint-Télesphore

Saint-Télesphore's future composting platform receives attention at MRC board meeting