The future factory of the multinational Northvolt may not have to go through the environmental procedure involving a review by the Bureau d’audiences publique sur l’environnement (BAPE), which includes independent public consultations. “Exchanges” are underway with the company, according to what was confirmed Thursday at Duty.
According to available information, the multinational Northvolt factory should be built on the now partly fallow land of the former Canadian Industries Limited factory in McMasterville, which ceased to exist almost 25 years old. This was demolished and the land would have been decontaminated, indicates the Quebec directory of contaminated land.
The arrival of this factory, however, raises concerns from citizens. It must be said that the car battery component factory will be located on the banks of the Richelieu River in an area where there are residential areas, an early childhood center and a residence for the elderly.
The seven billion dollar project is expected to occupy an area equivalent to 318 football fields and will be carried out on land, part of which is wooded and which is located on the edge of agricultural land.
A BAPE exam?
However, local environmental issues and questions of social acceptability were not addressed Thursday as part of the official announcement of the private industrial megaproject subsidized by the governments of Quebec and Canada.
It is also not possible to know whether this factory will be subject to the procedure of evaluation and examination of environmental impacts, in light of the responses provided Thursday by the Ministry of the Environment, Fight against changes, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP).
“Some information about the project remains to be confirmed by Northvolt. Thus, discussions continue between the MELCCFP and the company in order to determine whether the project or one of its components is subject to the Environmental Impact Assessment and Examination Procedure,” indicates the ministry, in a written response to Duty.
According to what Me Camille Cloutier, of the Quebec Environmental Law Center, specifies, the rules which specify whether such a project must be subject to the environmental procedure were modified last July. From now on, battery factories have a provision specific to them which provides that the liability threshold is set at an annual production capacity of at least 60,000 metric tons.
If the project falls below this threshold, it will be up to the Legault government, which fully supports the project, to decide whether the factory will have to go through the procedure before the company can begin construction.
Since the development of this sector is very recent in Quebec, Me Camille Cloutier considers it possible that this factory project, but also other future projects, will raise questions or opposition from citizens. In this context, “there should be a social debate around these projects”.
Social impacts
Remember that the environmental impact assessment and review procedure is regularly used for several industrial projects in Quebec, within the framework of the Environmental Quality Act. This is particularly the case for projects involving different types of factories, but also for mining projects, landfill sites and electricity transmission lines.
This procedure involves carrying out an impact study based on a “directive” which would deal with several issues which should characterize the Northvolt factory project: social acceptability, impacts on the local road network, climate impacts of the project , impacts on public health, impacts on natural environments and biodiversity, etc.
Once this impact study is deemed complete, the process would normally lead to an examination of the project by the BAPE, including public hearings which allow independent consultation of the government and the promoter. Normally, it is only at the end of this procedure that the BAPE submits its report to the government, which then makes the decision whether or not to authorize the project.