Floods in Lac-Saint-Jean: municipalities are calling Rio Tinto to account


Residents of several municipalities are also angry with the multinational regarding its management of the water body. Interviewed on the show Public placethe Mayor of Alma had admitted that there was a question to be asked for a more far-sighted management in particular.

Above all, Sylvie Beaumont praised the company’s support during these flood days.

We were extremely well supported, which allowed us to secure our territory and our population. It is considered that there are uncontrollable elements in this event that happened, she said, referring to Mother Nature. Rio Tinto has 25% responsibility for lake level management, there is another 75% to consider.

Before positioning ourselves, we will take the time to really review the entire event and even have discussions with Rio Tinto. »

A quote from Sylvie Beaumont, Mayor of Alma

The minister responsible for the region, Andrée Laforest, reiterated her confidence in Rio Tinto on Tuesday.

I claim that Rio Tinto will work with citizens. Otherwise, if there are needs, I will be there and I will support the citizens she assured.

Rio Tinto defends its management

Rio Tinto spokeswoman Malika Cherry maintains that the company has made all the necessary efforts in this period of exceptional flooding and above all at the right time.

When we saw the rain episode on the radars, we didn’t take any chances, we opened all the spillways to full capacity in the Petite-Décharge and Grande-Décharge rivers. And on top of that, we retain water in Chutes-des-Passesshe clarified.

A woman in front of the Rio Tinto building.

Malika Cherry is communications for Rio Tinto.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Gabrielle Morissette

She mentions the factors that led to this flood, namely the rapid melting of the snow and the episode of record rain.

We already started evacuating earlier. As of May 15, the lake was below normal 15 feet, so at its minimum. You can’t go below because there are municipal water intakes, you have to consider several users too. It’s really important to understand that this is really the weather eventthen mentioned Malika Cherry.

Mrs. Cherry also recalled that the water that arrived comes from the Ashuapmushuan and Mistassini rivers not controlled by Rio Tinto.

According to information obtained by Radio-Canada, Rio Tinto learned almost 24 hours before the general public of the extent of the exceptional precipitation that caused the overflow of Lake Saint-Jean in recent days. At the time of this weather alert, May 15, Rio Tinto had only 19 of its 34 discharge valves open. The À Prop’eau bulletin indicates that the 34 valves were open at full capacity on Tuesday, May 17, but it does not specify anything between these two times.

A dam on a fast-flowing river.

Rio Tinto’s Lac Saint-Jean discharge valves are 100% open.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Rémi Tremblay

In this vigilance bulletin issued by Environment Canada, the document announced quantities of 40 to 60 mm of rain in western Lac-Saint-Jean, but added that in the worst case scenario up to 100 mm could fall locally. The bulletin specifies that these heavy rains exacerbate the level of rivers already swollen due to the melting of the snow cover.

Plan more

Hydrology specialist from the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi (UQAC), Maxime Boivin, believes that Rio Tinto should consider revising its analyzes to take into account extreme weather events.

The hydrogeomorphology professor notes that the company was diligent between April 14 and May 15. The lake level was kept below median levels for this period even though the company was entitled to keep it higher.

In Alma, the current is particularly impressive on the Petite-Décharge river.

In Alma, the current was particularly impressive on the Petite-Décharge river at certain times.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Beatrice Rooney

Maxime Boivin admits he doesn’t know how Rio Tinto reacted when it received Environment Canada’s warnings about the risk of extreme precipitation on May 15, but he believes these events could cause the company to review its ways of doing things.

All the data on climate change shows that there are extreme events, therefore, events of 50 mm and more in terms of liquid precipitation. It will perhaps be more frequent in the next few years, next decades to have events like that which could generate higher risks. In this context, perhaps reviewing the methods could be a solution for adapting to climate change.

repair work

Repair work should be done in the fall, according to the Rio Tinto spokesperson.

So we are going to do a special survey following the events to do additional programming according to the different emergencies. The other element is field observations. At the end of the week, several people from the shoreline team went to see the erosion.

A man on a beach filled with tree branches.

It was time for collection on Monday at the Domaine du Marais, in Chambord.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Philippe L’Heureux

Rio Tinto is therefore asking affected residents to report the damage via their bank stabilization program.

The lake level was 17.95 feet Tuesday morning.

With Gilles Munger and Beatrice Rooney



Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca

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