A citizen complained to our office to resolve a problem with the flow of wastewater, in the alley located behind her residence, and to complain about the inaction of Arrondissement Le Plateau-Mont-Royal in correcting the situation.
Our investigation revealed that the flow in question was caused by the obstruction of a private sewer drain, located in a building on Avenue du Parc.
At our request, the borough took samples of this wastewater and had them analyzed: this analysis confirmed the presence of faecal coliforms. Since this flow was coming from a private property, not from Ville de Montréal’s infrastructures, the borough forwarded a Demand Letter to the owner at fault, requesting that he quickly remedies the situation: unfortunately, the owner did not follow up with this Demand Letter.
We then discussed possible solutions, in regards to this inaction and, following the opinion of the City’s Legal Department, the borough filed a Motion asking the Superior Court to issue an Order requesting the owner to repair this sewer, failing which the borough would be authorized to do the repairs itself, at the owner’s expense. While the legal process was following its course, however, the borough and our office had to wait for the court’s decision: we, therefore, suspended our intervention temporarily.
Fortunately for the complainant, the contravening owner finally decided not to wait a court’s decision and made the repairs. The wastewater flow problem has been resolved, to the satisfaction of the citizen and her neighbors.
