The Court decided to postpone until Tuesday the hearing on the request for an injunction presented by the Center québécois du droit de l’environnement (CQDE) in order to force Northvolt to temporarily cease the work of destroying wetlands and felling of trees on the site of the future factory presented as an “energy transition” project. Work may continue until then on the site.
The lawyers representing the government of Quebec and Northvolt convinced Judge David R. Collier of the Superior Court on Friday morning to postpone the hearing in order to allow them to read the numerous documents filed by the CQDE and to present a defense for their clients .
Me Nathalie Anne Béliveau, from the Fasken Martineau firm, which represents Northvolt, argued that it was impossible to read all the documentation in order to proceed on Friday morning, due to the very short deadlines available to them. An argument taken up by the lawyers of the Attorney General, who represent the government of Quebec. Friday’s hearing was notified to them on Thursday, they insisted.
Northvolt representatives added that the case was important for the company, since a 10-day work stoppage resulting from a provisional injunction imposed by the Court would represent “irreparable harm” for Northvolt.
Work stopped
While waiting for the hearing, normally scheduled for Tuesday, Northvolt agreed to cease “tree felling work in wetlands and within a 500 meter radius around wetlands” until Tuesday, 3:00 p.m. Work to destroy natural environments can therefore continue on the site. These normally take place Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The entire site preparation work is expected to take six weeks.
The Quebec Environmental Law Center, however, requests “the immediate suspension of the work”, which started at the beginning of the week in Montérégie.
“While the felling of trees has been observed and the destruction of wetlands sheltering the habitats of species in precarious situations is imminent, the CQDE requests the suspension of this work which is worrying for biodiversity,” argues the organization. .
In the request for a provisional injunction, we highlight the fact that the Legault government refused, last year, to carry out a real estate project on the same site. Experts from the Quebec Ministry of the Environment then justified their decision by emphasizing the rich biodiversity of the land, the essential nature of the natural environments for the region and the “impressive diversity” of the fauna on the site.
Biodiversity
The data provided to Duty by the ministry report in particular the presence of 21 threatened or vulnerable species. And at least 142 species of birds frequent the site, some of which are threatened.
In its refusal decision, dated March 2023, the government indicated at the same time that the diversity of ponds and marshes “provides a variety of habitats for living species, which allows the maintenance of biodiversity in a context where natural environments are rare and where agricultural practices and urban development homogenize the landscape.” What’s more, the planned destruction of natural environments would have reduced “the connectivity links between the natural environments of the region”.
The CQDE thus deplores “that there seem to be double standards”. He therefore “wishes to shed light on this apparent inconsistency”.
According to Marc Bishai, lawyer at CQDE, the analysis which led to the refusal of the residential project last year is still valid this year. “As the situation requires an urgent response for the protection of the environment, we are now turning to the courts. We regret having to go this far, but the ongoing destruction, without an adequate response to public concerns, forces us to act quickly,” specifies M.e Bishai.
Changed rules
As soon as the battery component factory project was announced in September 2023, the Legault government rejected the idea of subjecting Northvolt to the environmental assessment procedure regularly used for large-scale industrial projects in Quebec.
Last week, the government authorized the destruction of wetlands on the site of the future factory, as well as the felling of thousands of trees. Quebec has also authorized Northvolt to destroy an area twice as large of wetlands as the residential construction project refused on the same site less than a year ago.
To compensate for the losses of wetlands, the Quebec government demanded the payment of financial compensation of $4.75 million. He also agreed with the company that it must “create, restore or conserve natural environments over an area to be determined, which will be of equal ecological value”.