The Minister of the Environment Benoit Charette affirms that “places of biodiversity of interest” will be preserved as part of the work to destroy natural environments underway on the site of the future Northvolt factory. The scientific opinions formulated by experts from his ministry, however, show that the work destroys natural environments of “high ecological value”.
Questioned Thursday morning in the corridors of the National Assembly, the Minister of the Environment of Quebec Benoit Charette wanted to be reassuring about the impacts of the factory project on the fauna and flora which until now occupied this rare environment natural beauty of Montérégie.
At the same time, he repeated that the Northvolt project is very different from the real estate project refused in March 2023, due to the anticipated impacts on biodiversity. “It’s not the same project and it’s not the same location. Biodiversity places of interest are preserved with the Northvolt project,” he argued.
“When I read articles, I would like to be able to read that the biodiversity places of interest on the site are protected, which was not the case with the previous project,” added Minister Charette. The real estate project in question was to destroy half as many wetlands as Northvolt.
“High ecological value”
The reports from his ministry’s experts produced as part of the analysis of the request for the destruction of wetlands and wooded areas by Northvolt nevertheless indicate that the project will have significant impacts on fauna and flora.
The “loss” of more than 950,000 m2 of natural environments on the site literally constitutes a point of no return for the biodiversity of the sector, according to what we can read in an analysis sent following a request for access to information. Indeed, the experts underline, the surface area of “residual” natural environments would “not be sufficient to maintain the essential functions supporting local and regional wildlife biodiversity, in this case avian fauna, turtles and bats”.
They specify at the same time that “the project site is a massif of natural environments” of great “diversity” which “give it an interest for fauna, including more than 142 species of birds and numerous species in situation precarious (14 species of birds, 4 species of bats as well as 3 species of turtles)”.
Another document produced by the Quebec Ministry of the Environment in October also underlines the “high ecological value” of the site, which is “one of the rare residual natural environments” in the region and one of the last which allows a link between terrestrial environments and the Richelieu River.
The Legault government also authorized the company to encroach on wetlands identified for their ecological interest by the Montreal Metropolitan Community, has already revealed The duty. The environments in question are located at the limits of an area of the land where there are notably habitats for the least bittern, a “threatened” species. However, the company promises to restore the site in the coming years.
“Opponents”
Minister Benoit Charette also defended the government’s management of the Northvolt file on Thursday. “We gave up trying to achieve unanimity with this project a long time ago. What we want is for it to come true, because it is good for the economy and it is good for the environment. And it will be done with the highest standards in terms of environmental protection,” he stressed.
Reacting to the blocking of the Northvolt site held for about an hour Thursday morning, he admitted that “any project in Quebec has its opponents”, but he specified that the government will organize “meetings with citizens in the coming days”. Before the project was announced in September, no public consultation took place.
Such a consultation would have taken place if the project had been subject to the environmental procedure normally imposed on large industrial projects. Northvolt, however, recently announced its intention to create a “community liaison committee” which will be established according to criteria set by the multinational itself.
Furthermore, the Parti Québécois sent a letter on Wednesday to the Auditor General of Quebec, Guylain Leclerc, asking her to investigate the evaluation of the project by the Quebec Ministry of the Environment.
“Considering the public funds allocated to the project, the recent regulatory changes, the rejection of requests for a BAPE by the government, the involvement of ministry officials both in supporting and evaluating the project, but, above all, calling into question the integrity of the analysis process for the giga factory project in McMasterville, it seems necessary to us that an independent examination of the conformity of the environmental analysis of the project be carried out,” argues the Party Quebecois in his letter.
With Marie-Michèle Sioui, Alexandre Robillard and François Carabin