Important message

re - VillaNova Project in Lachine vs SOLROC

Dear client and friend,

You may have read or heard of the article that was published in the journal de Montréal in early December 2016 that implied our involvement concerning the recently discovered contamination on the property of the residential project VillaNova in Lachine.

The information in this article is wrong, slanderous and defamatory. For confidentiality reasons and in order not to impede the investigation of this file, our insurers (ENCON, insurers of the Ordre des Ingénieurs) have authorized us to issue the following statement:

Contrary to what the article published in the Journal de Montréal on December 1 may suggest, Solroc is not the only consulting firm that intervened on this property and its mandate was very limited with regards to time and services rendered.

The site was initially treated by a large Montreal engineering firm that carried out all the environmental studies and presented the rehabilitation plan to the Ministry of the Environment in 2007 and then proceeded with the excavation of the contaminated soils of the majority of the property with the exception of a small area in the center of the property where contaminated soil could remain in place in accordance with the rehabilitation plan approved by the Ministry.

At a later date, the owner of the property at the time, asked the same Montreal engineering firm to produce a rehabilitation specification of this last contaminated sector and hired an excavation company to carry out the related rehabilitation. Solroc was then mandated to supervise and monitor the decontamination of this small remaining contaminated area which was not only excavated to the natural soil, but went as far as being excavated to the bedrock. This rehabilitation work was completed in March 2010.

Subsequently, as of summer 2012, satellite images show that there have been several backfill operations and soil movements throughout the entire property over the years, subsequent to the decontamination works that were carried out including since the property was purchased in 2013 by the current property owner.

The sequence of events, if any, will confirm Solroc's exemption with regards to the liability for the alleged new contamination.

We hope this slanderous article will not interfere with our business relationship of many years and that you will continue to trust Le Groupe Solroc for all present and future consulting mandates.

Aimé Bensoussan and I are at your disposal to answer any other questions on this matter.

Cordially,

Alain Bondu
Vice President and General Manager