The Triani Group has been dumping contaminated water in Terrebonne every day for years. The city is trying to slow down its factory in a lawsuit citing the giant Molson.
Another company in the group is also accused of skimming millions of dollars from local microbreweries.
For 976 consecutive days, the beverage manufacturer has been discharging contaminated water with abnormal pH and excessive levels of COD and phosphorus into municipal sewers.
According to the city, not only does water quality suffer, but the presence of these pollutants also increases wastewater treatment costs.
Triani racked up four guilty verdicts in 24 months in Terrebonne. The court recognizes that the discharges from the factory it has owned since 2018 are non-compliant, its wastewater is uncharacterized and the work of an official is obstructed.
In addition, $125,600 in fines were assessed, distributed across 14 additional reports issued for repeat violations of the same offenses.
This information was disclosed in a lawsuit filed by the city last May. The case is still before a Supreme Court judge.
Since then, the couple behind Triani, Tristan Bourgeois Cousineau and Joannie Couture, have continued to produce and bottle alcoholic beverages in the same way at their factory at 901 Rue des Forges in Terrebonne.
“We exceed COD discharge standards. In 2021 we were at 4,000 ppm instead of 1,000 ppm,” recognizes Joannie Couture.
Coors seltzers have long been made by Triani in Terrebonne. Molson assures that this is no longer the case, but refuses to say since when. Screenshot from Molson Coors website
Big customers
The couple makes Coors seltzer and Ungava spirits at their factory in Terrebonne, the suit says.
Ironically, Molson Coors boasts about “restoring the waters of Canada” in text printed on its cans.
The Quebec flagship offers few details about his relationship with Tristan and Joannie.
“Molson Coors has not worked with the Triani Group for some time,” François Lefebvre said simply.
When and why did the giant terminate its contract with the couple? How long did this partnership last?
Molson’s public affairs manager did not respond to the Journal’s requests for details.
At the supermarket, the cans of Coors Seltzer for sale are currently made in Terrebonne.
On Wednesday you could still buy this Coors Seltzer from Triani in Terrebonne in a Couche-Tard in Montreal. Photo Julien Mcevoy
Repeat offenders
An engineer from the city of Terrebonne is on the move in the winter of 2021 when she asks Triani to characterize the wastewater discharged from her factory.
The company obeys. Result: contaminated water that does not comply with the water hygiene regulations of the Montreal metropolitan region.
“Our sewage pipes, our pumping station and our sewage treatment plant are affected,” the city explains.
Terrebonne requires Tristan and Joannie to create a plan of action in the spring of 2021. The couple then stopped cooperating with the authorities.
“Spills happen every day,” emphasizes the city, which has been testing discharges from the factory on Rue des Forges for 32 months. Every time they are non-compliant.
Triani has his own version of events. “We produced a new water characterization report in November 2022. We were at 1200 ppm instead of 1000. We are very aware that the standard is 1000,” says Joannie Couture on the phone.
Tristan Bourgeois Cousineau and Joannie Couture in 2017 as the couple begins their rise to fame. Carl Vaillancourt / JdeM
Terrebonne’s mayor is refusing to speak to the Journal because the case is in court. However, the city says the November 2022 report was “determined to be non-compliant due to irregularities.”
It was not signed by a member of the Order of Engineers of Quebec, the Order of Chemists of Quebec or the Order of Technologists of Quebec, it says. The results were also “nonconforming because they did not take dilution into account, which made them unrepresentative.”
The city demanded that the company make corrections to the report. The request remained unanswered.
“It is not arsenic that we are releasing. Our pollutants are not toxic. The city of Terrebonne doesn’t have the capacity to treat all the wastewater, that’s all. Due to population growth, their facilities are at full capacity,” explains Ms. Couture.
Big names in turmoil
The Molson family is not the only member of Quebec’s business elite to be part of Triani’s history.
A former CEO of the SAQ and the Caisse de dépôt et placement is also represented in the figures.
For example, the CDPQ selects Triani to the detriment of RJ Brasseurs in 2022 to acquire the Glutenberg Group, which has been in free fall ever since.
Tristan and Joannie’s companies are then sued in court by a marketing company, a customs broker, numerous breweries, a bottle supplier, an accounting service, a machine shop, a distributor, a waste disposal company, a consultant, a forklift salesman, etc., an engineering firm, a former sales manager, a market research company, It department
“At least three companies are being sued, not just Triani, and we always settle out of court,” emphasizes Joannie Couture.
Spiritual Spirits – managed by former SAQ boss Alain Brunet – is one of the SMEs (more than 40) in conflict with Triani.
The list is long. “I’ll survive, but I have both broken legs,” said Keegan Kelertas, a brewer who owes $200,000 to Transbroue – which is owned by Tristan and Joannie.
Triani also has happy customers, like entrepreneur-influencer Olivier Primeau, who recently started making his new drink in Terrebonne.
“I’m not defending them, but I’m fine at the moment,” says the owner of Beach Day Every Day.
The city of Terrebonne’s lawsuit is being heard at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse. It could take years.
Triani is currently still discharging its contaminated water into the pipes of the city of 120,000 residents.
Highlight: Transbroue is a separate company from Triani. Both have the same owners: Tristan Bourgeois Cousineau and Joannie Couture. The couple has owned Transbroue since August 2022. They founded Triani in 2014. At the time, Triani purchased Italian wine before bottling it and selling it in convenience and grocery stores.
• Also read: Transbroue is full of debt and is reorganizing
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