Noise and environmental concerns sparking community pushback against airport plans

Noise pollution and environmental concerns are sparking pushback against a new construction project at the Montreal-Trudeau airport.

Tensions were high at the Montreal Airport Authority’s (ADM) annual public meeting on Thursday. Citizens voiced their concerns, saying noise pollution in the area is a major issue and is causing some to wake up from their sleep.

“This is not some rare occurrence, this is happening frequently,” said one man at the meeting.

Mères au front Montreal is calling on the airport to enforce a nighttime curfew on flights between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. However, the ADM is proposing a sound management system instead, which would include a more limited curfew between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.

The airport says its waiting for approval from Transport Canada.

“What they present to us, it’s not the reality of the people who live close to the airport,” said Nathalie Ainsley of Mères au front Montreal.

Environmental concerns were also raised during the meeting. The ADM intends to build a decarbonization centre that would require removing parts of the surrounding wetlands.

Advocates argue this would harm the local biodiversity.

“What we fight for is to protect the nature that is already there,” said Ainsley.

Environmental advocate Katherine Collin echoed these concerns.

“What is being proposed would essentially cause irreversible damage to the biodiversity, including threatened and now endangered species, that are currently on site,” she said.

ADM says it plans to preserve around 25 hectares of land for wildlife but warns that preserving more could attract birds and increase the risk of bird strikes.

“Our own main responsibility at the airport is the security and the safety of the passenger and this is something that is not negotiable,” said Yves Beauchamp, CEO of ADM.

But environmental advocates insist other solutions exist.

“Many airports are doing really innovative, wonderful work around conservation, notably in Vancouver, where we have Transport Canada and Environment Canada working hand in hand,” said Collin.

Construction of the decarbonization centre could take place over the next 10 to 20 years.

ADM says the centre will help accelerate the “ecological transition” at Trudeau International Airport.

It adds that the production of renewable energies, such as solar power, is an example of a project that could require that space in the future.

In an email statement, the ADM told CTV News that any development on this site would be subject to “firm conditions relating to the protection of environments of high ecological value and the protection of endangered species already present on the site.”