The municipality of Hinchinbrooke has decided that two water bottling facilities are enough.
The municipal council unanimously adopted a zoning bylaw during its regular meeting on March 2 that will make it practically impossible to authorize a third industrial water extraction project within its territory.
The bylaw amends the municipality’s zoning plan by expanding an agroforestry zone into what is currently zoned for agriculture and natural resource extraction. This will significantly limit the area in which such activities can take place.
Hinchinbrooke’s mayor, Mark Wallace, explained that there were questions around the council table as to whether there was anything they could do after the municipality was required to issue a building permit for a new water bottling plant. By changing the zonage, potential businesses “will not be able to ask for a permit for drilling,” he said.
A public consultation on the zoning change proposed in the bylaw will take place on April 13. The municipality plans to adopt a final version of the bylaw during the regular meeting scheduled for May 4. The amendment will then need to be certified by the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent before coming into effect.
Bethany Lee, a spokesperson for the Protect our Water Source action group, said members were “very pleased to hear that Hinchinbrooke is taking action to prevent the future development of projects that would put unnecessary strain on groundwater reserves in the municipality.”
Permit controversy
Residents attending the council meeting peppered the mayor with questions concerning the new water bottling operation. In response to one question regarding the aquifer, Sylvain Cazes, an attaché for Huntingdon MNA Carole Mallette, asked to address the room.
Cazes explained that Mallette’s office had been contacted by the action group for help in accessing information regarding the water extraction permit that was renewed by the Environment Ministry (MELCCFP). He reported that according to the ministry, “There is nothing to indicate there is a problem in terms of the environment or the water.”
The ministry could not object to renewing the permit based on the information it had received, he said, before assuring those in attendance that the government will be monitoring the amount of water that is withdrawn very closely. “If an operator starts to take more, the ministry will be very strict and will follow up on it,” said Cazes.
In response, Lee said group members are not convinced. “Second-hand assurances from the Ministry of the Environment do not constitute a sufficient response to our request,” she explained, noting the group has filed a formal information request with the ministry.
A new study
Wallace confirmed that work on the bottling plant was cleared to start. He said the landowner and project promoter, Germain Turpin, had followed through on a promise to commission a new hydrogeological study of the aquifer at the bottling site. The municipality approved of the selected hydrologist, and the process is expected to begin in April.
According to the mayor, Turpin told the municipality he would go ahead with the project but would hold off on exploiting the water until the results of the study are in.