http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=7fb3e075-6 e4c-4d5d-a664-f321d088f3c1 Effects of landfill fires unclear, residents say Pierrefonds site has had three blazes in one week JAMES STAIRS The Gazette, December 28, 2004 <photo> CREDIT: JOHN MAHONEY, THE GAZETTE A fire in a quarry on Oakwood Ave. in Pierrefonds is giving off thick smoke and an acrid smell. Area residents are concerned the smoke could have negative health effects. ---------------------- After a week of living in a haze of acrid smoke caused by fires at an area landfill, some Pierrefonds residents are concerned about the effects of the smoke and an apparent lack of communication with borough officials. "Of course, I'm worried," said Glenn Timmons, who lives a block from the landfill site. "I just wish someone would tell us what is happening." The fire, which began late Christmas night, was the third in a week at the site. Its thick smoke could be smelled for miles. The landfill is in the old Meloche quarry on Oakwood Ave., east of St. Charles Blvd. and north of Highway 40. It is owned and operated by Les Entreprises Environnementales Pierrefonds Inc., a private company. The site has been open since 1999 and disposes of waste construction materials like wood and concrete. Company president Marc Michot said he believes the fire started when workers used waste material from a demolished roof to build a road for the heavy equipment used to bury the refuse. The shingles from the roof, he explained, are taken off a building by using blowtorches to melt the tar that keeps them in place. The shingles are then placed in containers and transported by truck to the disposal site. Michot surmised the shingles were possibly still hot or smouldering when put into a container bound for the landfill. Usually, he said, garbage is covered with dirt when it reaches the site, eliminating any chance of fire. However, since the shingles were used in the construction of a road, the oxygen in the open air could have ignited them, he explained. Denis Cloutier, chief of Division 11 (West Island) of the Montreal fire department, who was on the site yesterday, said the explanation sounded plausible, but officially the cause of the fire was still under investigation. Cloutier said the fire department has committed 15 men and four fire trucks around the clock to the blaze. The streets around the site were also blocked off. Timmons said what was almost as bad as the smoke was not knowing its effects on the health of the area residents. "The borough should at least let us know what's going on here," he said. Monique Worth, mayor of the Pierrefonds-Senneville borough, said she didn't think area residents should be worried. "There is no toxic material here," she said emphatically at the site. "Environment Quebec, the Montreal environment department and public health officials have been here and have done a full evaluation. "They haven't warned us, so I don't believe that there is any danger. If there was, we'd act." Worth defended the borough's decision not to send written notices to area residents, saying the situation was under control and there was no need to cause panic by sending out written information. The borough has set up a hotline - 514-624-1487 - to provide information on the fire. jstairs@thegazette.canwest.com -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 265.6.5 - Release Date: 12/26/2004
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