Julie Houle, a resident of Rigaud who lives on rue Saint-Pierre, contacted Néomédia earlier in March to report a problem in her area. For the past two weeks or so, there has been a strong stench coming from the sewer system. 

‘It really stinks in the Rue Saint-Pierre and Rue des Érables area, along the Rivière Rigaud. It's intense. In my opinion, the city is giving us bogus reasons for the smell. They say it's because it's snowing. It's not the first time it's snowed, but I've never smelled anything like it since I moved here years ago. A lot of people just brush it off as nonsense,’ she says. 

According to Ms Houle, the smell is most noticeable in the evening and well into the night. ‘Often, in the morning, it's gone. We don't know if it's linked to the temperature or something else, but it's pretty intense. Some of my neighbours are sick to their stomachs and can't eat because the smell is so strong. It doesn't make sense. It's really causing them problems on a daily basis,’ she adds. 

The woman reports that sometimes, during the summer months or on very windy days, you can smell odours emanating from the city of Rigaud's septic fields. ‘On Saint-Pierre, you don't smell it as much, but in certain streets closer to the plant, I'm sure that the residents don't eat or sit outside during the summer to enjoy nature. I don't think the city's slogan of being a great place to live really applies any more ’. 

An unknown source of odour 

Contacted by Néomédia, the Ville de Rigaud said that the first foul odours were noticed by residents around 23 February. ‘It is difficult to pinpoint the odours because of the wind and the fluctuating temperature, but the odours have persisted in the areas along the river ever since. Some people are saying that the odour is coming from upstream of the river,’ says the municipal administration by e-mail. 

Could work on the sewer system solve the problem? ‘No, it can happen in winter that warm air from the sewers rises to the surface. However, when there is a lot of snow and several manholes are covered with snow, the air makes its way to those that are not, which concentrates the odour in certain places, but never like the odours we smell ’. 

Rigaud confirms that a full inspection of its facilities was carried out by its wastewater treatment team last week. ‘The data emitted by its monitoring equipment confirms their integrity. The town has notified the Ministry of the Environment of this abnormal situation. The city had already asked the ministry to intervene in another situation dating back to November 2022, due to numerous dead fish and episodes of strong odours in the river. Since it's not our facilities that are at fault, it's difficult to intervene to mitigate the source, which we don't know. The ministry had to move staff. The town is waiting for the ministry to return and is continuing to monitor its facilities,’ concludes the local authority.