This is a promise made by the Ministers of the Environment and Agriculture the day after the broadcast of a report from the program Investigation, last December. Radio-Canada revealed that at least five American states export such sewage sludge to Quebec.
South of the border, Maine has already banned this practice as a preventive measure. Tests carried out revealed significant concentrations of PFAS, potentially carcinogenic eternal contaminants, on agricultural land in this American state.
Currently, Quebec regulations do not regulate PFAS, unlike other hazardous materials such as lead, nickel, cadmium and arsenic.
The government’s objective is to prohibit the use in all forms of municipal, industrial or paper sewage sludge from outside Canada.
A new regulation, but not before the seeds
Since the broadcast of the Radio-Canada reports, Quebec has announced the overhaul of the regulations governing the use of biosolids. The government has launched a 45-day consultation that will lead to the adoption of amendments to the Agricultural Operations Regulations.
But the adoption of this regulation could only take place at the end of spring, when the first seeds will have already been planted.
In the meantime, to avoid contamination of Quebec soils, Minister Benoit Charette has therefore decided to impose a moratorium.
The measure announced by Quebec in a press release is welcomed by the president of the Order of Agronomists of Quebec, Martine Giguère. We were in favor of a moratorium until thresholds were developed. This is what the ministry is working on right now
she explains.
In the draft regulation which is the subject of consultation, it is stated that the new ban […] could have an impact on importing companies which will have to find other markets
.
We don’t want to react to this at this time.
indicated the company Englobe, which imports American biosolids.
What about Quebec sludge?
More than forty Quebec municipalities have passed resolutions to stop importing US biosolids and have expressed concerns about the use of Quebec sludge.
Tests carried out in a laboratory at the University of Montreal have shown that certain Quebec sludges can be as or even more concentrated in PFAS than the old thresholds in force in Maine, before the ban on sludge.
If not recovered in agricultural fields, municipal sewage sludge must then be buried or burned, which generates greenhouse gases. The president of the Order of Agronomists believes that the recovery of fertilizing residual materials has several advantages both from an agronomic point of view and from the fight against climate change
.
In his press release, Minister Charette added that it wasan effective avenue to favor in the fight against climate change
.
From the reports of green week and D’Investigationthe Ministère de l’Environnement set up a committee made up of some forty partners from the municipal, agricultural and industrial sectors, professional orders, government departments and specialized businesses, as well as scientists.
