The City of Montreal's Office of the Inspector General (BIG) is recommending that the municipality strengthen controls on the disposal of asphalt and concrete waste produced at construction sites after illegal dumping on private lands was discovered this year. However, the organization insists that in general, construction site supervision in the metropolis has improved.
BIG's annual report presented to the Municipal Council on Monday revealed that during road and pavement demolition work, a contractor had illegally dumped industrial waste at a municipal site on two private plots of land.
“The bureau found a total of 78 tractor-trailer trips dumped there,” the report said, which did not identify the original site or the contractor involved.
“The Ministry of Environment has been notified of the situation, as has the commercial unit responsible for the site,” the document continues. The OIG asserts that city officials reminded its teams that disposal of residual particulate matter must be subject to “tight” control.
In its report, the OIG offers some recommendations to the municipal administration to improve the control, especially to improve the stability of the personnel assigned to the supervision of the work and to establish a procedure for obtaining advance approval for the disposal of asphalt concrete residue.
Vigilant supervisors
Several past OIG reports have highlighted shortcomings in the oversight of municipal construction sites, but in general, the situation today has greatly improved, the report continues.
“The team that visited the construction sites in 2023 noted a great improvement in the quality, availability and awareness of supervisory staff. Supervisors and materials control technicians were present at all times except for three inappropriate situations, representing 4% of visits. The latter demonstrated good knowledge of site operations and citation requirements,” the document states.
The annual report marks the end of Inspector General Brigid Bishop's nearly six-year tenure.
“When I was appointed Inspector General, I guaranteed that the OIG would be a respected organization, especially in the eyes of the people of Montreal, contributing to the fulfillment of billions of municipal contract dollars and building a benchmark based on contractual integrity. Today I can say that I have accomplished my mission,” he wrote. .
Pres Financial Markets Authority (AMF) head of investigations Me François Lanthier was elected president of BIG following a selection process that evaluated several candidates. The city council is set to vote on the choice this week.
