Northvolt can restart work on its battery cell mega-factory on the South Shore, where the company will encroach on wetlands: the Superior Court of Quebec rejects the request for an injunction which had been filed by the Center québécois du environmental law (CQDE).
In his 13-page decision, rendered Friday, Judge David R. Collier considers that the organization has not “succeeded in putting forward serious arguments allowing us to doubt” the validity of the Quebec ministerial authorization and the permit granted by Saint-Basile-le-Grand which allows the company to fell trees as part of its preparatory work.
The CQDE had filed its request for a provisional injunction alleging that Quebec had made an “unreasonable” decision. According to the organization, the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP), had offered carte blanche by authorizing Northvolt to move forward. It is unclear where the company will deploy its mitigation measures and what will be done in terms of restoration and compensation, says the CQDE. He also adds that the company will have three years before submitting its plan.
On the 170-hectare site which straddles Saint-Basile-le-Grand and McMasterville, the first phase of preparatory work involves the removal of approximately 14,000 living and dead shelters. The construction site will notably affect 13 hectares of wetlands. The site – where the Canadian Industries Limited explosives factory was once located – is home, among other things, to a nesting area for the least bittern, a bird considered a vulnerable species whose presence has been detected three times since 2016.
More details to come.