Montreal facing more than $12.5M in lawsuits over undisclosed landfill sites
13 lawsuits are now in preliminary stages concerning sites around the city
The City of Montreal is facing lawsuits totalling more than $12.5 million in connection with old quarries and dumps that property owners worry are contaminating their land and devaluing their investments.
A document obtained by Radio-Canada shows the city is setting aside additional money for a geological engineer and environmental expert due to "new lawsuits."
The document says there are 13 lawsuits that are now in preliminary stages concerning sites in the Plateau–Mont-Royal, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, Ahuntsic-Cartierville and Ville-Marie neighbourhoods.
Property owners say the city did not disclose important information about their land.
"We're living with the sword of Damocles," said homeowner and Rosemont resident Martin Lavallée.
"The value of our house and our investment may be affected by information that the city hid from us."
A list of more than 60 sites of known and possible old landfills was kept secret by the City of Montreal for 22 years until a CBC/Radio-Canada investigation exposed it in 2015.
The investigation revealed that hundreds of buildings, schools and parks had been built on land that could be contaminated.
At the time, Mayor Denis Coderre's administration said it did not know about the list and promised to publish updated information.
In 2016, 16 updated maps were released showing the location of 94 old quarries around the city.
With files from Radio-Canada's Julie Marceau