"Move to expand landfill for US hazardous waste stirs disputes between leaders in Quebec and Montreal suburb"

"The proposed expansion of a Quebec landfill that accepts hazardous waste from the United States has ignited a turf war between the Quebec provincial government and local leaders, who say they oppose putting US trash into a local peat bog.

Local leaders are protesting against the move – saying the province is capitulating to a US company in the midst of a tariff war between Canada and the United States.

For a year, the Montreal suburb of Blainville has been refusing to sell a piece of city-owned forest land to facilitate the expansion of Stablex, a US-owned company that treats and stores hazardous waste, including 33,000 tons exported from the US in 2023. Tech billionaire Bill Gates is listed as a stakeholder in the company.

Last week the Quebec minister of natural resources and forests introduced a bill to force the city to sell the land to allow the expansion to go forward, saying the waste site is about to run out of space and the government must act quickly to avoid a stoppage in hazardous waste disposal."

Erin McCormick reports for the Guardian March 6, 2025. [2]