Écoquartier: Quebec grants $10 million for land decontamination

The eco-district project of Cap-aux-Meules receives a $10 million boost from the Quebec government.

The Municipality of the Islands is receiving this grant to finance decontamination and soil rehabilitation work on a 100,000 square meter area between the former Wendell-Chiasson arena and the former Margueritte D’Youville school.

Without being able to put a figure on the work to come, the deputy mayor and councillor of the village of Cap-aux-Meules, Richard Leblanc, is pleased to see the project move forward.

The presence of hydrocarbons in the area, which has made headlines several times over the years, has slowed down any development on the land targeted for the future eco-district.

According to government information, the project will include an entrepreneurial hub as well as residential housing, and a sustainable development centre with the objective of promoting best practices in terms of carbon neutrality of buildings.

It is because of the strong economic potential, estimated at $52.5 million in public and private investments, that the government has decided to take on part of the decontamination bill, explains the minister responsible for the region, Maïté Blanchette-Vézina.

In December, residents of Havre-Aubert deplored the fact that soil from the former Wendell-Chiasson arena had been moved to a storage site belonging to Irving located on the edge of the Grave, behind the Vent du large restaurant.

Village Councillor Sara Vigneau eventually confirmed that it was decontaminated soil and that its transportation to the site was done at the request of the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks.