REVUE DE PRESSE 22 NOVEMBRE 2013

REVUE DE PRESSE 22 NOVEMBRE 2013

1 Incendies et interventions

Revue de presse APM Date de publication : 22 novembre 2013 Auteur(s) : René Bruemmer Montreal tests alert system for hazardous incidents Residents of Montreal and the industry-laden municipality of Montreal East were subjected to the undulating and disquieting tones of a three-minute alarm Thursday afternoon. Contrary to the behaviour typically generated by a siren s call getting out of a building or out of the way or rushing to be with loved ones the proper reaction when these sirens are heard is to move calmly indoors and close all doors and windows, for the sirens designate a chemical leak that may be wafting toward your general vicinity. Fortunately, Thursday s alarms were false, part of a test by the city of Montreal s public security department of a public alert system meant to notify the populace if an industrial plant has suffered a potentially fatal breach. Five Montreal companies two oil firms, a cheese factory and two breweries, mostly located in the eastern reaches of Montreal have been ordered to install alarm systems to meet Environment Canada risk management guidelines. Introduced last year with two firms taking part, Montreal expects to have 15 companies fitted with alarms that can warn people as far as two kilometres away of an accident. People are not really aware of the risks around them, said Louise Bradette, head of the city s Centre de securité civile. We want to remind them that if they hear a siren, they have to confine themselves indoors. Usually when you hear a siren, you feel you have to get out. The department distributed 66,700 flyers to the households situated within the possible impact zones. Many were not pleased to find out about the potential dangers around them. Sarah Crouteau, who lives less than a kilometre from the Labatt Brewery in LaSalle, told CBC News she was alarmed to discover there was a risk site near her home. I m considering moving, she said. Thursday s test was as a reminder that tens of thousands of Montrealers live within a wind s gust of factories containing hazardous materials. 2

Montreal s urban context means that industrial zones border residential and commercial zones, which creates, in certain sectors, major risks in the case of an industrial accident, the city s public security website notes. It adds that there has never been a major industrial accident next to a residential area in Montreal, and that accidents of that type are exceedingly rare. Montreal has three major industrial zones, in Montreal East, LaSalle and St-Laurent, and 50 companies that fall under the federal government s regulations regarding environmental emergencies because they house large amounts of toxic chemicals like chlorine, ammonia, acetic acid or hydrogen sulphide. The Labatt Brewery in LaSalle is one of the largest in Canada, covering one million square feet over five floors and employing 800 people. It bottles 24 million cases of 24 beers every year more than half a billion bottles. The plant uses ammonia in its refrigeration systems, which is why it has been asked to install an alarm. Ammonia gas in small quantities can burn the skin, permanently damage respiratory passages and cause blindness. In large quantities it is fatal. Despite that, residents need not worry, said Nicolas Gaudreault, engineering manager at the brewery the ammonia they use has been permanently sealed within a closed system since it was installed in 1956, and the plant has never had an incident in 67 years. Employees monitor the refrigeration system 24 hours a day. Nevertheless, he s in favour of the alarms because it standardizes the system, making it much easier for companies to communicate the risks, he said. If you hear the threeminute siren, which goes higher and lower in tone for three minutes, you should: Go indoors immediately, be it into a home, a business or a public building. Close all doors and windows, and block any gaps under doors with rags Turn off any ventilation air conditioners, furnaces, dryers, etc. Close the chimney flue. Don t go to school to get your children. Teachers are trained in how to react Listen to a local radio station for instructions (92.5 FM, 730 AM) Don t use the phone in case emergency services need to contact you When the danger is over, a continuous alarm signal will sound for 60 seconds. Thursday s warning sirens were heard within a radius of 445 metres to 1.8 kilometres, in the boroughs of Anjou, Lachine, LaSalle, Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Rivière-des-Prairies Pointeaux-Trembles, St-Léonard and Ville-Marie. The companies involved, their plant locations and the anticipated sound footprint of their warning sirens: Cepsa, 10200 Sherbrooke St. E., radius 1.5 kilometres; Chemtrade, 11450 Cherrier St., radius 1.3 kilometres; Saputo Inc., 3

7750 Pascal-Gagnon St., radius 855 metres; Molson Coors, 1555 NotreDame St. E., radius 445 metres Labatt Brewery, 50 Labatt St., radius 1.8 kilometres. 4

2 Syndicats

Revue de presse APM Date de publication : 22 novembre 2013 Auteur(s) : Valérie Gaudreau Cols bleus suspendus pour harcèlement Trois cols bleus de la Ville de Québec sont suspendus sans solde pour harcèlement. Le comité exécutif a entériné hier les mesures disciplinaires à l endroit des employés pour des faits survenus dans l arrondissement de Beauport. Les trois employés manuels écopent de suspension de deux jours, de 10 semaines et de trois mois sans salaire. «Oui, c est en lien avec du harcèlement», a confirmé le porte-parole de la Ville de Québec, Jacques Perron. Comme le veut le règlement de la Ville, il n en a toutefois pas dit davantage sur la nature des gestes reprochés. «Mais ces suspensions sont appliquées après un rigoureux processus d enquête, a-t-il ajouté. Notre politique est claire, c est tolérance zéro.» Cette Politique pour prévenir et contrer le harcèlement en milieu de travail a été adoptée par la Ville de Québec en 2007. En mars, Le Soleil révélait que depuis l entrée en vigueur de cette politique, le nombre de plaintes dénonçant des situations de harcèlement a bondi. D une seule en 2005, on en comptait 17 en 2011 et 12 en 2012. 6