The Quebec Ministry of the Environment did not carry out any inspections of the Northvolt site while the company destroyed more than 60,000 m2 wetlands, learned The duty. Only the company monitored the backfilling work of these natural spaces sheltering rich biodiversity, including several wildlife species.
Northvolt completed the first phase of wetland destruction on its site last week, in order to prepare the site for the construction of the first building of its factory. Around a hundred trucks per day were needed for approximately two weeks to backfill these natural environments, which represented approximately 45% of the total area of wetlands that will be erased from the map on the site.
Despite the scale of the operation and the issues for the protection of wildlife, including the possible presence of threatened species, the Quebec Ministry of the Environment has not carried out a single inspection on the site as part of the work to destroy wetlands, it was confirmed to the Duty.
“Two inspections were carried out between the date of issue of the authorization and 1er March, i.e. January 15 and 30, in order to verify the conformity of the work,” specifies the ministry in a written response. However, the backfilling of 60,000 m2 started only in mid-February and was completed at the end of February.
The ministry adds that a third inspection took place, but once the work in the wetlands was finalized. This inspection, carried out on March 5, “revealed that no backfilling work was in progress”. It must be said that this work had to be completed no later than 1er March, or when “the wetlands are frozen or dried up”.
“Inspections”
On the official page of the Government of Quebec dedicated to “environmental monitoring of the Northvolt file”, it is indicated that “rigorous environmental control is carried out, in particular by carrying out inspections and verifications to ensure that all the provisions of the Environment Quality Act and environmental regulations are respected. »
However, as part of the work in wetlands, field monitoring was carried out by “a biologist” hired by Northvolt, the company specifies. By way of a press release, it notably argued last week that “no species of turtle with special status was observed” as part of the inventories carried out by a firm hired by Northvolt in the environments which were backfilled. . At the time of the work, the turtles were hibernating and were therefore not visible.
According to the authorization granted in January, the Legault government also considers that the project “does not significantly encroach” on the site’s watercourses, flood zones and wetlands which constitute a potential habitat for the small bittern. Northvolt also paid $4.75 million to the government to destroy 138,000 m2 wetlands on the site.
Does the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, consider that it is normal not to inspect the site during the backfilling work? As of Thursday afternoon, his office had not responded to this question from Duty sent Tuesday noon. However, the minister has repeatedly defended the rigor of Quebec’s environmental framework.
Independent monitoring
Biologist and general director of the Society for Nature and Parks of Quebec, Alain Branchaud believes that independent monitoring of Northvolt’s work would be necessary. “With the idea of improving the environmental monitoring of the work, it would be appropriate to entrust the scientific monitoring of the site to an independent third party. The data thus collected could be communicated in complete transparency to the population and to the responsible authorities,” he explains.
According to him, this monitoring could include scientific measurements to validate the presence of species in wetlands, but also “measurements of contaminants in the Richelieu River upstream and downstream of the site to measure toxic discharges, if applicable. “.
The Ministry of the Environment did not want to specify when other inspections at the site could take place. One thing is certain, deforestation work is still in progress, according to the company. The destruction of vegetation cover must be completed no later than April 15, in order to comply with federal regulations on migratory birds. This stipulates that it is prohibited to destroy nesting sites when they are used by avian fauna. But it is allowed to do this before the birds arrive.
No less than 142 species of birds have been recorded on the land, which before the Northvolt project constituted a site of “high ecological value”, according to experts from the Quebec Ministry of the Environment. These same experts believe that “the project causes a loss of natural environments [humides et terrestres] serving as a feeding, breeding and/or migratory stopover habitat for local and regional wildlife, [dont] several species in precarious situation. The “total or partial destruction” of 61 wetlands is planned.