The natural site which will be destroyed in large part to make way for the Northvolt gigafactory thanks to public funds has no less than 74 wetlands, we learned The duty. A large majority of them are important for the conservation of biodiversity, but it is currently unclear what will be done to try to compensate for the losses, which will become irremediable in the coming weeks.
After having suffered a refusal from Northvolt and the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP), The duty obtained several hundred pages of documents filed by the company with the ministry using the access to information law.
In particular, there are inventory reports of fauna, flora and wetlands which were produced by private firms hired by the promoter of the plant. Several pieces of information are redacted, and the reports were sent to us once the ministry had decided not to subject Northvolt to the environmental assessment procedure provided for major industrial projects.
The report Floristic inventories and characterizations of wet and water environments, produced by the firm CIMA+ before the project was announced, tells us that the site “is very large and made up of numerous plant units”. Several photos attached to the 523-page report also demonstrate the density of wooded areas and the diversity of plant species. Please note that access to the site is prohibited to the public. This is therefore the first time that we can see photos taken on site.
The firm’s staff also identified a total of 74 wetlands, including 8 ponds, 19 marshes, 28 tree swamps and 19 shrub swamps. Several present “disturbances” attributable to the industrial activity carried out on part of the site. But the report indicates that 62 of the 74 wetlands have “medium” or “high” importance for the “conservation of biological diversity”.
CIMA+ experts specify that “this ecological function is based on biodiversity indicators such as the number of species, relative rarity” and the number of vegetation strata. Since each wetland is described in the report, we note in particular environments where the vegetation is rich and varied, or which serve as habitat for threatened species.
This same document reports a medium or high “carbon sequestration” capacity for 55 of the 74 documented wetlands, the majority of which will be destroyed for the construction of the plant. You should know that carbon sequestration in natural environments is considered an important tool in the fight against the climate crisis.
In a response to Duty, last month, Northvolt had already confirmed the existence of a “characterization” of wetlands. “The majority of these wetlands are considered disturbed by invasive species and human activity,” however, indicated a spokesperson for the company.
How will the loss of tens of thousands of square meters of wetlands be compensated, since Quebec has implemented a law imposing “no net loss” of such natural environments? Northvolt promises to “respect the rules in force regarding environmental protection”. Certain wetlands will also be spared.
At the MELCCFP, we do not specify anything on this subject. It is repeated that “compensation measures are required in the event that it is not possible, for the purposes of a project, to avoid harming the ecological functions and biodiversity of wetlands and bodies of water.” Financial compensation could be required once the company has obtained the green light from the Legault government for the destruction.
Threatened species
Another report produced by CIMA+ for Northvolt indicates that 65 species of birds have been identified on the site, including at least three listed on the federal government’s endangered species list. According to information obtained last month by The dutysix “threatened” species have already been recorded on the site, out of the 142 bird species identified.
As federal legislation prohibits the destruction of the nest of migratory species, it is essential for Northvolt that natural environments that can serve as nesting habitat, such as trees, are destroyed outside of this period. In a document produced by the company, there is talk of starting the work this fall and completing it before the end of the year.
CIMA+ has also documented the presence of herpetofauna, which includes amphibians and reptiles. We learn in particular that the inventory made it possible to “confirm the presence on the site of several painted turtles and snapping turtles”. Since the site preparation work is planned during the hibernation period of these turtles, they should be “buried alive,” underlines the general director of the Society for Nature and Parks of Quebec, Alain Branchaud.
The firm says it did not record any chorus frogs on the site during the inventories carried out in May 2023. It therefore concludes that “this site does not meet the essential habitat criteria” for the threatened species.
Biologist Alain Branchaud, who knows the small amphibian well, points out, however, that in the spring of 2023, tree frogs were mainly recorded in April in Quebec, i.e. when they sing during the breeding season. He therefore believes that the MELCCFP should require that the inventory be redone for the chorus frog, a species which has lost more than 90% of its habitat in the province.
The duty also tried in vain to obtain information about Northvolt from other ministries using the access to information law. The Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy refused us access to certain documents (impossible to know how many), and those sent to us are so redacted that it is impossible to read them. extract information. We only note the presence of emails exchanged within the ministry several months before the announcement of the construction of the factory.
At the Ministry of the Executive Council, we also received a refusal. In a letter published Tuesday in The duty100 biodiversity specialists criticized in particular the lack of “transparency” in the Northvolt file.
With Dave Christmas