MONTREAL - The province has announced that it is set to send workers into the Reliance Equipment warehouse on Hymus in Pointe Claire to start cataloging the dangerous PCBs that have been stored in the facility for the last 15 years.
That process will take a few days and workers will then move on to transporting the chemicals to another site where they will be decontaminated.
The process is expected to take several weeks and cost taxpayers several millions, as the company is not considered ikely to be able to come up with the cash required for the work.
Provincial environment minister Yves-Francois Blanchet said Thursday that the assets of the company are likely to be seized and liquidated but expressed doubt that enough money would be raised to pay for the decontamination.
Blanchet appeared ready to dismiss promises made by the company to help solve the problem.
“I’m certain that when somebody is in the corner will say with all of his heart that he’s willing to do the right thing but the recent behaviour of this company suggest that they don’t have the level of reliability that I expect,” said Blanchet.
The government is already taking legal steps to seize the property and will likely proceed on its own from there.
Company officials were seen entering the offices late Wednesday and leaving with what appeared to be documents.
The municipality of Pointe Claire had previously stated that it was pondering a lawsuit against the company and the province has said the same for possible criminal charges.
