5 composting plants promised in Montreal still not built more than a decade later as costs soar

It's been more than a decade since Montreal waspromised fiveorganic waste-treatment centresfor the east, west, south and north ends of the island, but according to the city's newly tabled auditor general report, no plant has been built yet amid rising costs.

According to the original plans, which began under the Tremblay administration in 2010,at least four out of five complexes were slated to open in 2016. As of this year, no site has opened to allow for on-shore processing of organic waste into natural gas.

In 2013, the city presented a$237-million plan to buildfive compost plants on the island. It was counting on $130 million in subsidies from the provincial and federal governments.

By2018, however,the costs had surged to $589 millionand no compost plantwas under construction, according toAuditor General Michle Galipeau.

In 2019, the cityrevised its plan to build just two plantsone inthe west (Saint-Laurent borough) andthe other in the east (Montral-Est) for $298.5 million, postponingthe other three indefinitely.

But even after those cuts, the auditor general foundthe city will have to pay almost double the pricethan what was presented in 2013 for the five facilities, due to delays in the project and the city's inability to obtain all the grants initially anticipated.

"The projected net cost of the project for the City should be between $162.9 million and $196.9 million...while only two [facilities]will be produced," reads the report byGalipeau.

Now, the first of the five plants will be a$175-million project, slated to open in Saint-Laurent in Septemberand a second plantin Montral-Estnext year.

Delay due to project complexity, politics: city

The delays aremostly dueto the complexity of the project and the time required to confirm the sites onthe island, said the office of the mayor and the executive committee in an emailed statement to CBCMontreal.

"It should be noted that the previous administration did not prioritize environmental projects and in delaying them, the costs accumulated unnecessarily. This is in contrast to the current direction of the city which is moving towarda 'zero waste'approach," the statement said.

The city says another reason for a spike in costs isadded requirements, like management and control of potential problems allissues raised inpublic consultations.

Galipeau says the process to carry out construction of the project "was not sufficiently rigorous" and the "monitoring normally expected in a project of such complexity and scope was inadequate."

The city says it is alwayslooking for ways to improve its practices and will do its best to followthe auditor's recommendations.

Some of those recommendations include breaking up the compost project into smaller, more manageable projects, ensuringrigorous accountability reporting to governance committees, and monitoringpotential project risks andmitigation measures.

Currently, compostable green wast isdisposed of at the Saint-Michel Environmental Complex and domestic waste is processed by private companies, the city says.