The Northvolt company claims that “homemade bombs” were placed under machinery on the site of its future battery factory and denounces this new act of vandalism targeting the industrial project.
“Our team noted this morning that homemade bombs had been placed under machinery this weekend, with the clear intention of injuring our workers and presumably slowing down our activities. The triggering devices did not work,” denounced the president and CEO of Northvolt North America, Paolo Cerruti, in an official statement on Monday.
“We will not tolerate this kind of behavior. We are in close contact with the police and will spare no effort to ensure the safety and tranquility of our workers,” he added.
No claim for the gesture had been announced early Monday afternoon.
This is not the first time that the Northvolt site has been targeted since the authorization for the destruction of natural environments was granted by the Quebec government for the construction of the industrial complex.
In February, an anonymous group claimed responsibility for installing studded mats “in the forest and on the roads in order to puncture the tires of vehicles and machinery on the site.”
The group of activists also announced at that time that “steel bars and nails were randomly inserted into the forest”, to “arm the forest against its destroyers”. This type of action, which can damage logging equipment, has already been used elsewhere in Canada and the United States by environmental activists seeking to stop logging.
Project Notice
On Friday, the government posted online the project notice submitted by the company with a view to carrying out the impact study required for the “Revolt” battery recycling plant, which is one of the phases of the Northvolt project. This could lead to a long list of environmental and social repercussions, depending on what emerges from the document.
Before launching recycling operations, which could begin in 2027, Northvolt submitted an authorization request to build its battery “gigafactory” on the site where it has razed wooded areas and filled in wetlands.
She also requested authorization to excavate contaminated soil from certain wetlands. The Ministry of the Environment, which is currently analyzing the request and which must authorize the work, is however unaware of the levels of soil contamination and the volumes that would be excavated.
The company has also submitted a request to Fisheries and Oceans Canada to be able to drain rainwater from the site of its future factory, which contains contaminated soil, into the Richelieu River.
All these requests are currently being analyzed. She will still have to obtain several environmental authorizations as part of her project. This is in fact evaluated as the company submits requests, due to the absence of an environmental procedure which includes, as is usually the practice in Quebec for large industrial projects, a study impact of the project.