A translation by Judith Turcotte
I am working on a book on the St. Lawrence River and must do follow-ups on certain files to ensure that my information remains current. One of these files focuses on the removal of military shells from lac Saint-Pierre. From 1952 to 1999, the National Defence Ministry used a part of the lake to perform ballistic tests from the Nicolet Munitions Testing and Experimentation Center.
I remember visiting my grandfather at his farm in Pierreville one day and accompanying him to Nicolet for some shopping. At one point, the road ran along a high fence not like the others; barbed wire prevented the fearless from trying to climb it. My grandfather explained that the fence protected a military shooting range and I found, in my young mind, that it was normal for the army to have a field to test their weapons and munitions.
I did write “a field.” I was far from thinking that the army sent their shells into lac Saint-Pierre. The National Defence Ministry estimates that more than 300,000 projectiles are still found at the bottom of the lake, of which 8000 are shells that still contain explosive materials. The threat posed by these shells became a reality in 1982. Charlotte Houle and her husband were gathered around a bonfire at the waterfront to celebrate Saint-Jean-Baptiste when a military shell exploded. Her husband died.
From 2006 to 2018, the organization, Mine E.O.D, had the responsibility of removing the shells from the lake. This organization is specialized in the detection services and removal of the unexploded ordinance. During this period, the organization withdrew or destroyed 2000 UXO (unexploded explosive munitions).
In September 2021, the Legault government authorized the National Defence Ministry in starting another project to remove 15,000 shells from the lake. It is less than 5% of the shells that were launched. The Sanexen organization obtained the contract. (I imagine, the lowest bidder.) Difficult to comprehend this shabby objective, when an analysis of the Defense Ministry (MDN) judged that the thousands of projectiles in the lake represent, “a real and significant risk of a potentially fatal accident.”
This latest project to remove the shells met with multiple difficulties. During the first year of the contract (2021), no shells were removed and in 2022, 400 shells had been removed. The contract required that 1550 shells be removed every year; the contract amounted to 2.6 million dollars. With these bad results, I became interested in Sanexen, the company responsible. On its website, the company is described as “a world leader in the service of emblematic and forefront organizations with a significant impact and an exemplary integrity.” This description was undoubtedly laid out by a committee who wished to include the most buzzwordspossible. Many projects are described on the site; however, there is no question of the removal of shells from lac Saint-Pierre. The Defence Ministry would have extended the deadline of the contract to 2032.
This project seems complex and very costly. The National Defence Ministry, on their part, judges that it is impossible to remove all the projectiles from the lake. This opinion must be contested. Lac Saint-Pierre is a rich ecosystem recognized as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO.