Reforestation
A pioneer in the environmental industry
The Government of Quebec is committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 37,5% by 2030. Industrial waste and soil management are part of the Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte aux changements climatiques (MELCC)’s priorities. In order to achieve this objective, measures must be taken. Thanks to our project to remediate and reforest a former landfill, Solterra is part of the solution.
Contaminated soil management on the rise
The real estate economy is booming with the construction of condos, hospitals and road infrastructures. However, all this development generates more and more contaminated soil in the Greater Montreal area. These soils are harmful to the environment and must be disposed of properly and, above all, legally.
That’s where we come in. The environment is at the heart of our priorities. With our expertise, we are making a difference in the lives of the people of Mascouche.
As an additional safety measure related to COVID-19, we ensure that we respect the standards of social distancing between truckers and members of our team. We also disinfect everything that needs to be disinfected and prefer to transfer documents electronically.
Our soil decontamination project in Mascouche
We took over this land in Mascouche to transform it from an illegal dump into a new space where nearly 70,000 trees grow. It is a new green lung for the people living there. This land rehabilitation involves improving soil quality by backfilling the site with low-contamination soils. This project contributes to the circular economy movement by giving a second life to contaminated soil.
We are currently in the research and development phase in order to find other types of trees that would allow for further soil decontamination.
Citizen-centred rehabilitation
At Solterra, we strive to provide a safe and pleasant living environment for the community. In order to improve safety and reduce the noise caused by truck traffic, we collaborated with the city of Mascouche to reduce the speed limit on Cabane-Ronde Road, the road leading to our activity site, from 70 km/h to 50 km/h. To further improve the surrounding residents’ quality of life, we asked our truckers to further reduce their speed to 40 km/h.
At Solterra, noise pollution is kept to a minimum. We have instituted a policy of not slamming doors when unloading soil.
In addition, in order to avoid dirtying the streets, we have equipped ourselves with a basin to wash the wheels of the trucks as they leave the site. This represents an investment of $80,000. To ensure the safety of motorists, we also invested $225,000 in the purchase of a mechanical broom to clean the street.
Our procedures are highly secure and have a low impact on the residents’ living space, which allows the people of Mascouche to live in a sustainable environment.