Invisible Winter

Weather in Montreal is extreme and variable, with hot, humid summer and cold, snowy winters. Like other winter cities, snow is collected from streets and trucked to disposal sites. This urban service is important for ensuring the viability of activity, especially to residents living by disposal sites, but more can be done with it than simply sending it away. Montreal has a half-dozen major snowfalls per year, each costing CAD$18 million for clearing of streets and sidewalks. Sixty thousand tons of salt are also spread onto city streets each year to melt ice, and dumped into the disposal sites along with the snow. Mixed with other contaminants from the street, this toxic brew is concentrated into the urban ecosystem at the dump sites, particularly the Francon Quarry.