A large quantity of suspended matter was released from a Hydro-Québec construction site on Monday on the Mitis River. Fondation Rivières immediately filed a complaint with the Ministry of the Environment, which stopped the construction site. The Mitis River is a salmon river and therefore very sensitive to any pollution in the event of siltation of the spawning areas, its pools, particularly at its mouth where speeds are slower. The Ministry of the Environment stopped the work and asked the Contractor to review its working method.
Last week, the Foundation had already asked in a letter to Prime Minister Legault to suspend the construction of the salmon capture system at the Mitis-2 dam, a small Hydro-Québec hydroelectric power station now abandoned. The Fondation Rivières rather advocates the restoration of the site and the free movement of salmon rather than the construction of a costly concrete installation on the banks of the river and the transport of salmon by truck. The Foundation thus wants to contribute to the improvement of the Mitis River Regional Park and the Jules A. Brillant Nature Reserve project.
