Environmentalists want to save Saint-Pierre River that runs through Meadowbrook Golf Club

Several nature lovers and green space advocates say they’re concerned about the fate of the Saint-Pierre River, a small body of water that extends all the way to the St. Lawrence River.

Environmentalists want to clean up and protect the 200 metres of the river meander through the Meadowbrook golf course.

A Quebec Superior Court judge ruled that the exposed portion of the river could be covered or decontaminated, but Les amis du Parc Meadowbrook want to protect it and leave it open for the general public to enjoy.

“People enjoy being by a river, a babbling brook with marsh plants around the river — people enjoy that. So, just to look at it, just to be by the river is of great value,” said Al Hayek, from Les amis du Parc Meadowbrook.

“That’s why we should not cover it. We should clean it up.”

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The issue is still being debated before the courts.

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The Saint-Pierre River is polluted. It’s believed raw sewage flows directly into it due to sewage and water pipes that were cross connected years ago from home owners in Côte St-Luc and Montreal West.

The environmentalists argue if cross-connecting pipes are fixed, the river would be decontaminated.

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The mayor of Côte St-Luc argues his city is looking into repairing the problem.

”We do plan to be more active in trying to find the cross connections are if they do exist in the city,” Côte St-Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein told Global News.

The developer who owns the golf course refused to comment, telling Global News the issue is still before the courts.

However, people who play there argue the most realistic option would be to improve the course itself, which they claim would protect the river.

“The golf course should be developed as a golf course,” said Sidney Margles, a Meadowbrook Golf Club player.

“Therefore, it would have its own water supply and maybe then the water of a contaminated river could be diverted or cleaned up at that point.”

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Meadowbrook Groupe Pacific wants a ruling that forces the city to stop the rivet flow at the surface of the golf course.