Daycare construction halted after contaminants found in soil in Montreal’s Pointe-Saint-Charles

Work at a construction site for a daycare centre in Montreal’s Pointe-Saint-Charles was stopped last week after contamination in the soil was confirmed.

The stoppage comes after neighbours in the area reportedly complained of foul smell coming from the work site at the corner of Island and Augustin-Cantin streets. Some residents also experienced symptoms like headaches and nausea.

“It’s just a chemical smell,” said area resident Melissa Tyer. “It gives you the impression that, yeah, it’s going to burn. It’s burning.

“We’ve kind of avoided walking through this area about two weeks ago, especially with the heat right now. The smell has been horrific, headache-inducing. A friend of mine just walked a block or two away, and then she had a headache for the rest of the day. You can smell it now. It’s horrible.”

In a letter posted at the site and sent to neighbours, the Montreal public health authority (DRSP) said soil excavation during construction revealed contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum hydrocarbons and metals were “more extensive than anticipated.” The analysis was conducted by a “specialized firm,” the DRSP says.

“My wife and I live on Centre Street, which is just close to here,” resident Tavis told CityNews. “And we can smell it or have smelled it in the past. Kind of that mothbally, chemical kind of smell. So unsure what it is, but it has been the talk of the town for sure.”

“My partner has been having some really bad headaches,” added Minh-Thy Nguyen. “He has nausea whenever he’s outside and can smell it.”

Health authorities say there is no short-term threat to the neighbours.

“Based on the initial ambient air monitoring results received to date, no immediate health risk to the surrounding population has been identified,” said Geneviève Paradis, a spokesperson for the (DRSP).

But Paradis adds: “Further assessments have been conducted to better document the potential effects associated with longer-term exposure.”

Scott Weichenthal, professor of environmental epidemiology at McGill University, says long-term exposure to substances like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found at the location are known to cause cancer in humans.

“But really, it’s a long-term exposure that’s relevant for cancer,” Weichenthal specified. “So over a number of years. And again, these measurements haven’t been taken in the air. So unless people are actually eating the soil, which they’re not, they’re not necessarily going to be exposed to those things in the soil.”

He believes it would be important to measure the ambient air for contaminants to determine risks to the community.

“But it also highlights why we need to decontaminate the site,” he said. “If they’re going to put a daycare on top of it, because we don’t want those things leaching into the indoor air of a daycare. Again, having sort of before and after measurements to prove to residents that the problem has been dealt with, I think will go a long way to kind of alleviating people’s concerns.”

Health officials indeed say the project developer is conducting air quality tests in the surrounding area in collaboration with government agencies. The developer will also decontaminate the site before the daycare construction resumes.

Weichenthal adds that a large fuel or oil leak over an extended period of time may have caused the level of contamination seen.

“That oil is now releasing these volatile chemicals into the air and that’s what is contributing to those symptoms like nausea and headaches that the residents are experiencing,” he said.

Residents say they are concerned for themselves, but also for their children.

“Just knowing that it’s a block away is very unfortunate for me to know that,” said Kaleen Schrouder. “I mean, I have a 10-year-old child. She also is on the spectrum. So it’s very hard that if she should have any symptoms or should feel ill in any manner or way, even if it’s the smallest symptom, she’s not able to communicate that to me.”

“I’m expecting in December,” added Nguyen. “So it doesn’t feel great to know that that’s where the daycare is going to be. And yeah, it’s just not great to know that that’s the air that I’m breathing.”