(Mcmasterville) Managers of the future Northvolt battery factory, which will receive 7.3 billion in provincial and federal aid, held an information session for the citizens of McMasterville and Saint-Basile-le-Grand in Montérégie , Wednesday evening.
Hundreds of citizens came to a high school for the first in a series of meetings with Northvolt representatives.
“We want to manufacture the greenest battery in the world” but “we must understand that the word factory is possibly poorly chosen […]we could much more think of a high-tech installation, so it is robotic for most of the operations,” explained the director of communications for North America at Northvolt, Laurent Therrien.
Different kiosks were set up in the school cafeteria and citizens were invited to ask questions to Northvolt employees, mostly Europeans, about the company’s values, workforce needs or even the environmental impacts of the factory.
If several citizens interviewed by The Canadian Press seemed satisfied with the company’s responses, others, like Geneviève Cousineau, a former resident of McMasterville who now lives in La Prairie, had “the impression that we have not not answered all his questions.
She is part of a group of citizens who launched a petition against the project.
According to the signatories, the 350 meter buffer zone between residences and the factory is not acceptable and they fear the noise, odor and transportation impacts associated with battery production.
“We are worried and we expected to be able to ask questions to senior managers,” said Geneviève Cousineau during an exchange with spokesperson Laurent Therrien who in return offered to meet the president of the company .
Louise Boucher, who listened attentively to the conversation between Ms. Cousineau and the company spokesperson, made it clear that she “does not share the fears of certain citizens.”
There is going to be a company, there is nothing that tells us that it is not a good company. On the contrary, all the references we are given are good. It’s not a mine, they don’t do extraction, it looks clean. I have just taken the tour and I am reassured.
Louise Boucher, resident
Near her, Louis Berthiaume, who “came to do his duty as a citizen” said he was reassured to learn that the majority of emissions emitted by the factory will consist of water vapor.
“There are still processes that have failed,” however denounced Louis Berthiaume when speaking of the BAPE.
“The largest manufacturing investment in the entire history of Quebec,” as Prime Minister François Legault called it, may not be subject to an evaluation by the Bureau d’audiences publique sur l’environnement (BAPE).
A regulation was modified in February by Quebec allowing the Northvolt project to escape BAPE examination, according to information first relayed by Radio-Canada.
Its production capacity would be 56,000 metric tons, while the Regulation relating to the evaluation and examination of the environmental impacts of certain projects have been modified so as to avoid a BAPE evaluation for battery factories that produce 60,000 metric tons or less.
“Whether we are subject to a BAPE or not, we will respect Quebec environmental law” and “we will not ask for any privileges from the law,” spokesperson Laurent Therrien insisted. adding that “it is not our prerogative to determine whether the BAPE applies or not, it is the prerogative of the government of Quebec”.
He added that “dozens, if not a hundred, officials are currently scrutinizing our project and wondering what its impacts will be.”
Wetlands and protected species
Wetlands will be destroyed during the construction of the plant and a threatened bird species will be affected by activities on the site.
“We will try to avoid wetlands as much as possible and avoid the area which is inhabited by the protected species which is the least bittern, and if we do not succeed in avoiding them completely, we have the obligation to compensate” , indicated Laurent Therrien.
“We can compensate by creating new wetlands, or by compensating financially,” he said.
Impact on water
Laurent Therrien also explained that “the vast majority of water” drawn by the factory from the Richelieu River will be used to cool the manufacturing processes.
“It cools our processes and then we bring it back to the initial temperature of the river and return it to the river in its initial state.”
He added that another portion of the water drawn will be used to clean certain minerals, “but then it is filtered within our factory and it remains in a closed circuit in the factory, so the water that has touched the product does not will never return to the river.
Northvolt plans to completely “discharge and crush” the batteries it manufactures when they reach the end of their life. Copper, aluminum and plastics will be sent to partners for recycling. The remaining powder, called “black mass”, will be processed in another center belonging to Norhtvolt in order to recover the metals, which will then be used to manufacture other batteries.
Laurent Therrien explained that he visited the Swedish Norhtvolt factory a few weeks ago.
“When leaving the factory, I asked those accompanying me to stop for two seconds, so that everyone would be quiet. Then I tell you, there was complete silence on site, so it was very quiet. The noise will be almost zero,” said the spokesperson.
Truck traffic
The construction of the plant should cause the traffic of 100 to 150 trucks per day, or “less than 1% of the daily trips recorded on Route 116” which passes near the installations, according to the communications director who specified that during the production phase, the company intends to favor rail transport.
Northvolt also intends to promote the use of lithium and critical minerals from Quebec.
Currently, there are no active lithium mines in Quebec, but some projects in the James Bay region could come into production in the coming years.
Northvolt plans to prepare the factory site this fall, begin construction of certain buildings in 2024, “deliver products to customers” in 2026 and plans to complete the first phase of construction in 2028.
These phases of development will be closely followed by several citizens, like Isabelle Plante, who was surprised to hear the Prime Minister say that the largest manufacturing project in the history of the province was going to be set up in her backyard.
“Taking the pulse of this meeting this evening, I see curious people, I see people who are discovering things, new technologies, I see people in favor, but it is mixed, there are also people who are against “, it is both worrying and interesting,” explained the woman who plans to get involved in a citizen advisory committee that should be set up by the municipality of McMasterville to ensure that the project meets the expectations of the population. .