On April 6, Valoris held its third meeting with citizens as part of its social acceptability process in relation to its expansion request for the Bury engineered landfill site. Thirty participants listened to the experts of AECOM as they explained their findings which will be included in the impact study for the ELS expansion project.
AECOM’s experts mainly focused on the following themes.
- Physical environment (geology, hydrogeology, surface and ground water, etc.)
- Biological environment (forest stand, wetlands, wildlife, etc.)
- Human environment (MRC, municipalities, land use, etc.)
The formula was different from the two previous meetings. Participants were placed in work groups. This disposition allowed them to exchange among themselves, to ask questions to the experts and to formulate proposals to improve the project. This formula gave rise to constructive exchanges. The subject of surface waters is certainly the one that has given rise to the most intense exchanges. Participants were working in teams which was a change from the two previous meetings. The structure of this workshop was intended to allow for more direct participant involvement and to ask questions to the experts. They were also encouraged to share their opinions and to formulate their proposals to improve the project. Surface and groundwater is undoubtedly the topic which has received the most comments.
The Mayor of Sherbrooke and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Valoris, Steve Lussier, was also on hand to participate. He was accompanied by Robert Roy, Vice-President of Valoris and Prefect of the Haut-Saint-François MRC. Walter Dougherty, Mayor of Bury, was also present. The Mayor of Sherbrooke and president of the board of Directors of Valoris, Steve Lussier, also attended the workshop. He was accompanied by the vice-president of Valoris and prefect of the Haut-Saint-François RCM, Robert Roy. We could also note the presence of Walter Dougherty, Mayor of Bury
Despite the fact that the spotlight was on AECOM’s people, the Valoris team was there to provide additional information and gather the results of the discussions. “These are very informative meetings. The data presented here puts the expansion project in perspective for both residents and the operator. It was important for people to know that their concerns and suggestions are driving us to improve our project in the interest of everyone,” said Denis Gélinas, Acting Executive Director of Valoris, at the end of the meeting. Despite the fact that the spotlight was on AECOM’s experts, Valoris team was there in support to give additional information and collect the fruit of discussions. “These are very rich meetings The presented data allow putting the expansion project in perspective for both the citizens and the operator. It was important that people know that their concerns and suggestions help us to improve the project in the interest of everyone”, said Valoris Acting General Manager Denis Gelinas at the end of the workshop.
The online workshop will be available by the end of the week. Participants will be able to watch each of the 4 sections of the workshop and answer a series of questions. People will find the procedure on our Facebook page or on the web site dedicated to the project (www.letvaloris.com) in both “documents” and “news” sections.
