Deposits snow temporary: Montreal has the green light from the ministry of the Environment

News 8 February, 2018

Sarah Daoust-Braun

Thursday, February 8, 2018 18:03

UPDATE
Thursday, February 8, 2018 18:07

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Montreal received permission from the ministry of the Environment for use of the former site of the racecourse as a site of deposition to snow temporary, while many of the sites, overcrowding in the west of the metropolis are almost filled.

Since the beginning of the winter, a site of deposition to snow has been closed and seven sites on 12, more than 80% of their capacity.

The City of Montreal and the ministry of the Environment have confirmed that a licence has been ordered to use the site of the former hippodrome Blue Bonnets, with a capacity of 2 million m3 of snow, but also the site of Solutia, adjacent to the site of Angrignon and a capacity of 600 000 m3, to unload the next few flakes in too.

The opening of the two sites will depend on the rainfall that will fall on the city over the next few days. At the end of the day Thursday, Montreal had completed 61 % of his sixth load operation of the snow of the season.

The two temporary venues will increase the storage capacity of the snow in the south-west of the city, which is considered critical in contrast to that in the east of the island, which is not.

The snow can also be removed in one of the 16 drops to the sewer. The snow is poured into the wells, which go to the wastewater treatment plant John R. Marcotte before ending up in the river.

An exceptional situation

This is the first time since 2008 that Montreal knows where to put its snow and request a special permission to the ministry of the Environment to the crowd.

Several factors explain the urgency of finding new sites. The metropolis has picked up since the beginning of the winter snowfall amounts equivalent to those of a full season and has picked up more than 85 % of the snow in the rate of melting is very low.

Also, because of the temperatures of extreme cold recorded at the beginning of the month of January, the falls in the sewer have not been able to receive so much snow.

In 40 years, only eight winters have been so snowy this year.