Montreal Port Expansion Faces Local Rules Pressure

0:00It's March 23rd, from your city to your ears. This is Canada News Today, powered by AI. The Montreal Port Authority faces pressure to follow local rules for its big expansion in Contracurre, Quebec. House of Commons Committee members unanimously passed the motion on March 11th, urging the port to stick to city bylaws and Quebec environmental laws. The site has contaminated soil and groundwater from past industry, with petroleum products and metals like cadmium, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc. The expansion aims to boost the port's annual capacity by 60% through new births, a container yard, rail links, and truck areas. The port says all work follows a strict federal framework and authorizations, but it has not yet applied for required city permits on the polluted plots. Locals worry that construction runoff could taint the nearby river and drinking water. A citizens group called VG-Citoyen, port de Contracurre, wants a full cleanup plan approved

1:01by Quebec's Environment Minister before any digging, starts. The port tapped DP World Canada from Dubai to design, build, and run the terminal for the next 40 years. It could handle up to 1.5 million containers yearly and 1200 trucks a day. The authority has until April 11th to reply to the committee with its remediation details. For now, the port plans to address the committee first before going public, stressing its federal status. I stay on whether they'll seek those local permits as talks heat up over balancing growth and safety.