A new municipal committee bringing together government officials, environmental organizations, scientists, residents and representatives of Stablex will begin work in October, as Blainville seeks closer scrutiny of the hazardous-waste company’s operations and clearer communication with the public.
Created by a resolution of city council in January, the Stablex Coordination Committee will be chaired by Blainville’s general administration. Its mandate is to examine environmental monitoring results, establish deadlines for follow-up measures, analyze risks associated with the company’s activities and develop appropriate risk-management responses.
The committee will also work on public communication and the transfer of information among Stablex, the municipality, provincial authorities, public health officials and residents.
More specifically, the City says the committee will monitor whether the competent authorities are properly carrying out their responsibilities for supervising and regulating Stablex. It will also seek to ensure that concerns raised by Blainville residents are understood by provincial authorities.
The initiative represents a municipal attempt to impose greater structure on a file that has generated years of public concern and political conflict. Stablex operates a hazardous-waste treatment and disposal facility on Industrial Boulevard in Blainville. The company handles contaminated soils and difficult-to-treat industrial waste, which it chemically treats and stabilizes before placing the resulting material in secure disposal cells.
The facility has operated in Blainville since 1983. Questions surrounding environmental surveillance, the importation of hazardous waste and the company’s plans for future disposal capacity have made Stablex one of the most closely watched environmental files on the North Shore.
The new body replaces the former Stablex Monitoring Committee, which was created by Quebec’s Environment Ministry in 1991. According to the City, the ministry had gradually stopped supervising that committee and was no longer regularly represented at its meetings.
At the mayor’s request, ministry representatives returned to the meetings in 2025. However, the provincial environment minister reportedly informed the City that the ministry did not intend to continue supervising committees of this kind. Blainville subsequently decided to assume leadership and redesign the committee.
The new committee’s responsibilities will include reviewing surveillance data collected under requirements imposed by Quebec’s Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks. It will create a calendar of environmental actions and follow-ups, identify deadlines and examine risks related to the coexistence of Stablex’s industrial activities with the surrounding community.
The committee itself will not replace provincial inspectors or assume the ministry’s regulatory powers. Its role will instead be to coordinate information, follow the progress of required measures and press the responsible authorities for clear answers when concerns arise.
Four representatives from the City of Blainville will sit on the committee, including a member of the general administration. Stablex will appoint two representatives.
The provincial Environment Ministry and the regional public health department will each have one representative, with the possibility of adding another person when a particular issue requires additional expertise.
Residents will also have a direct presence. Following a municipal selection process, Blainville chose biologist Anaïs Boutin and chemical engineer Annie Laberge to join the committee.
Boutin has worked with government bodies and organizations involved in wildlife protection and conservation. In Blainville, she contributed to the development of the city’s ecological transition plan.
Laberge is a chemical engineer and consultant with more than 30 years of experience in quality assurance, occupational health and safety prevention, and the improvement of organizational and industrial processes. Her previous assignments have included work with manufacturing and construction-sector organizations.
A third citizen representative will be delegated by Stablex’s Good Neighbour Committee, a discussion and consultation group established by the company to maintain communication with residents living near its facilities.
Two specialized environmental organizations will complete the committee’s membership.
The Conseil des bassins versants des Mille-Îles, commonly known as COBAMIL, will contribute its regional expertise in watershed management. The organization works with municipalities and other local decision-makers to protect water resources and coordinate implementation of the regional water master plan.
Nature-Action Québec will also participate. The organization works with municipalities, institutions and community partners on the protection and management of natural environments, environmental best practices and residual-material management.
The variety of participants gives the committee access to scientific, technical, municipal and community perspectives. It also creates a setting in which Stablex and the authorities responsible for regulating it can be questioned at the same table.
