Northvolt is still waiting to obtain authorization from the Quebec government to destroy the natural environments and wildlife habitats of the site of its future factory. But the company may also need to obtain federal approvals, it has been learned The dutysince the project could harm fish habitat, which is prohibited under the Fisheries Act.
In addition to wooded areas and dozens of wetlands, the site of the future factory dear to the Legault government has watercourses which could be suitable habitats for different species of fish.
This information is included in a report produced by a private firm which was submitted by Northvolt to the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks in order to obtain authorization to destroy environments damp.
This report, obtained by The duty thanks to the Access to Information Act, thus indicates the presence of a “potential habitat for fish” in at least two watercourses which meander on the site, located in Montérégie, where the company intends build your factory. A table also indicates potential sites for “reproduction”, “feeding” and certain phases of the life cycle of young fish.
The report in question does not include an inventory of species, unlike what was done on the site for birds, reptiles and amphibians. This is also “a significant gap”, according to biologist Alain Branchaud, general director of the Society for Nature and Parks of Quebec. “If there are suitable habitats, you need to know what the species are. This is the kind of information that needs to be known. »
If there are suitable habitats, you need to know what the species are. This is the kind of information that needs to be known.
As watercourses on the site flow into the Richelieu River, several species, including threatened species, could frequent these habitats. Portions of the “critical habitat” of the copper redhorse, a legally protected “endangered” species, are found in the Richelieu River.
Compliance with the law
With or without an inventory, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is categorical: “promoters have a legal obligation to respect the Fisheries Act”, which applies everywhere in Canada, including on private lands, explains the biologist Serge-Éric Picard, from MPO.
This means that Northvolt does not have the right to “destroy or damage fish habitat” unless it obtains authorization from Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
“We had two discussions with the promoter. On each occasion, we clearly mentioned that according to the information we have, everything suggests that there are fish habitats on the site. And as the Fisheries Act applies to this site, we very strongly recommended that they file a request for examination so that we can analyze the file,” explains Mr. Picard.
If the company does not do so and MPO finds violations of the Fisheries Act, it could be exposed to various recourses from the ministry, including “legal proceedings”, we specify in a response. written. Ground patrols are also planned in the area, as well as a helicopter flight over the site, in order to monitor any work that could take place on the site.
Does Northvolt plan to file a request for review? “Yes, we intend to submit a request to Fisheries and Oceans Canada,” replied a company spokesperson, without further details.
For the moment, the only mention of fish in the Northvolt file goes to the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, who mocked the biodiversity found on the site during a recent speech at the Council on International Relations. from Montreal. The location envisaged for the factory “is probably a place where fish have three eyes,” he said, eliciting laughter from the audience.
The site in question has no fewer than 74 wetlands, according to information contained in a document commissioned by Northvolt and obtained under the Access to Information Act. The report in question indicates that 62 of the 74 wetlands are important for the “conservation of biological diversity”. Dozens of bird species, some of which are threatened, also frequent the numerous wooded areas of the site, which is in the process of renaturalization.
Furthermore, Northvolt plans to pump water from the Richelieu River as part of its operations. The planned volumes are currently unknown, but this water will then be treated on site before being discharged into the river. “The Northvolt project will not have to obtain authorization regarding the discharge of water used as part of its industrial processes into the Richelieu River,” however, MPO has already indicated. The company will nevertheless have to comply with the Fisheries Act, which “prohibits the discharge of harmful substances” into fish habitat. Drinking water intakes are located downstream from the site of the future factory, which will be located in the territories of McMasterville and Saint-Basile-le-Grand.