Issue No. 9 - November 2024

New products

Transport Canada is pleased to announce the Honourable Anita Anand as the new Minister of Transport, appointed on September 19, 2024. Minister Anand is committed to modernizing our infrastructure and improving transportation safety.

Our website got a makeover! Discover more information on the Lac-Mégantic rail bypass project by visiting: https://tc.canada.ca/en/rail-transportation/lac-megantic-rail-bypass.

To stay informed about the project's activities and next steps, subscribe to our electronic newsletter at https://tc.canada.ca/en/rail-transportation/lac-megantic-rail-bypass/newsletter-about-lac-megantic-rail-bypass-project#subscribe.

We want to hear from you 

The project's potential environmental impacts are important to all of us. Transport Canada would like to offer you another opportunity to provide feedback on the Hydrogeological report, the Wetlands monitoring plan and the Groundwater and potable water well monitoring plan before they are submitted to the Canadian Transportation Agency as part of the final application.

Hydrogeological report

The hydrogeological report determines the hydrogeological (groundwater) properties of the aquifers. It focuses on areas that we will need to excavate during construction. The current version is an update of the existing study, which assessed the groundwater in the work area. It describes how we determined the maximum area the work might affect, so we could design and put in place a monitoring program in areas where we could observe impacts on water and wells.

Wetlands monitoring plan

One of the project's mitigation measures is implementing a Wetlands monitoring plan. The plan monitors the condition of wetlands outside the future railway’s right-of-way. It documents their condition in qualitative terms before, during and after construction.

The plan was developed in response to mitigation measures. We’ll also use the data this plan collects to measure the area of wetland and water loss caused by construction outside the right-of-way. This will help Transport Canada determine the amount that the Government of Canada will have to pay to the Fonds de protection de l'environnement et du domaine hydrique de l'État to compensate for these losses.

Groundwater and potable water well monitoring plan

To reduce the potential impact on residential drinking water wells, the Laforest Nova Aqua firm developed a Groundwater and potable water well monitoring plan to monitor water quality and quantity of drinking water wells of concerned residents. The wells targeted by the plan are located within the areas of influence determined by the construction work. In November 2024, information sessions on this plan will also be offered to concerned and potentially affected residents depending on the level of risk of potential impact on their wells.

We invite you to comment on these reports online between November 18 and December 17, 2024, by visiting the Let's Talk Transportation page at https://letstalktransportation.ca/lets-talk-environmental-reports-from-the-lac-megantic-railway-bypass-project or by emailing your comments to TC.InfoLacMegantic.TC@tc.gc.ca.

Recent activities

Project updates

In summer 2024, Transport Canada did a field inventory to validate the area of wetlands affected by the project. Satellite surveys estimated losses at 66 hectares in the fall of 2023, but the new estimate from the field visits is a loss around 33 hectares. We also installed equipment (well points) to measure groundwater levels in wetlands outside the right-of-way in the project’s long-term zones of influence in the fall of 2024. The equipment will monitor potential environmental impacts for 10 years after we finish the work. This is part of the project's Wetlands monitoring plan.

Comité de concertation

On September 24, Transport Canada representatives took part in another meeting of the Comité de concertation in Lac-Mégantic. At this meeting, Transport Canada along with representatives of Public Services and Procurement Canada met with the mayors of the municipalities of Frontenac, Lac-Mégantic and Nantes. We have made important progress in recent months, thanks to the close collaboration between our partners and all the stakeholders involved.