A Quebec court has ruled the new owners of the PCB-laden land that once belonged to Reliance Power Equipment Ltd. in Pointe Claire have to get moving on a cleanup.
In addition, the company, called Juste Investir, has to pay for the cleanup of the adjoining land — all at a cost of several millions of dollars.
Juste Investir, and its parent company Olymbec, had spent much of the last two years fighting court orders to have the land decontaminated at its expense.
The saga of Reliance Power Equipment Ltd. began in the summer of 2013, when it was discovered PCBs leaking from old transformers illegally stored in the backyard of the facility on Hymus Blvd. had seeped into the ground and rainwater collection pipes.
The transformers were removed shortly thereafter, but the land remains contaminated.
Juste Investir purchased the land in 2015, after the city of Pointe Claire forced its old owners to sell for non-payment of taxes.
Since then, the new company had been arguing the city neglected to inform them that the land was still contaminated.
Recently, the Tribunal administratif du Québec shot that arguement down, suggesting the company was taking a risk in purchasing the land, and now must assume its responsibilities.
The company finally submitted a cleanup plan to the environment ministry last month, which reports suggest it is now analyzing.