The presence of contaminated floors was indeed much greater which had been estimated, raising the bill to $ 850,000, while financial aid covered works up to $ 125,000.
The mayor of Nicolet, Geneviève Dubois, assured that discussions will be undertaken with the Quebec government so that the subsidy is increased to mop up the significant excess cost.
It must be said that the site, which was to take place over two weeks this spring, has finally stretched for a little more than a month due to the much larger than expected presence of contaminated soils.
According to what the director of the engineering department, Antoine Lagimonière, said, preparatory studies in the file provided for a volume of 740 metric tonnes of contaminated soils on the site.
The latter explained that estimates were based on the samples taken during phase 2 and 3 preparatory studies. He indicated that 14 polls were first done in which contamination was found in six of them.
Then, during the next phase, which served to confirm the previous one, six polls were done and only one presented signs of contaminants.
“By making the excavation, the floors are removed and we must verify that they are completely decontaminated by laboratory analyzes. By progressing in the excavation, we found many more contaminated soils than those planned, “he said.
He had already warned the council that four times more contaminants had been found on the site, during the session of April 14, but it was ultimately even more than that which was found.
Once the site was finished, on May 2, the total volume of contaminated land was finally amounted to 5137 metric tonnes, almost seven times more than estimates.
These would mainly be contaminants which were typical of oil heating systems from another era, said the director of the engineering service.
The mayor of Nicolet, Geneviève Dubois, added that the Council intends to review its ways of doing so that they do not have to relive such a surprise for its next decontamination project which is planned on the site of the old municipal garage, on rue Caron.
“We do not want a situation like this to happen again and that the grant to which we are entitled to be based on something more realistic. Even that the MTQ’s reference framework speaks of 200 % often of exceeding evaluations, said the mayor. It is not a unique situation, but it is still disappointing and worrying. ”
With the invoice of $ 850,000 for the decontamination of the field, the amount for the revitalization of the Cloutier square now amounts to $ 1.6 million in public money. Recall that in 2017, the acquisition of the field of 55,000 square feet in Immoplasty cost $ 750,000 in the city of Nicolet.
A first construction in two decades has finally lifted land in recent weeks on the field which had been left vacant since the demolition work of summer 2007. It is a building of 16 affordable dwellings.
“There are other projects that are planned in the Cloutier field,” said Geneviève Dubois, explaining that the city of Nicolet had no choice but to go forward and complete the decontamination. “We chose to proceed. We couldn’t say to ourselves “we’re going to stop the work; we’re going to leave that like that”. “