Even before obtaining authorization to destroy the majority of natural environments on its site, Northvolt submitted its request for authorization for the construction of its “giga-factory” to the Legault government.
Since the project escapes the environmental assessment procedure normally provided for large industrial projects, Northvolt was able to proceed by submitting an “authorization request” which must be approved by the Minister of the Environment, the Fight against Change Climate, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP), Benoit Charette.
The information available in the ministry’s register only indicates that the company submitted the following request: “construction of a gigafactory for the production of batteries and establishment of a rainwater management system”. This project is fully supported and financed by the Legault and Trudeau governments.
Work in progress
The “date of receipt” of Northvolt’s application is December 22, 2023, just over two weeks before the company obtains authorization to destroy 138,000 m2 wetlands and cut down approximately 8,700 trees on its site.
Please note, the final “analysis report” of this request for “intervention” in wetlands produced by the MELCCFP to assess the impacts on biodiversity and specify mitigation measures is dated January 8, i.e. the day government authorization.
Northvolt is currently carrying out work to destroy wetlands and plant cover on the site. The wooded areas which served as nesting places for dozens of species of birds must be razed before spring and the reproduction period of migratory species. These operations should be completed within six weeks.
Construction of the factory could begin as early as this year and production could begin as early as 2026. This first phase could be completed in 2028.
“High ecological value”
Documents obtained by The duty present, but only in schematized form, different buildings and other infrastructures which will be built in different places on this site which until now sheltered a rich biodiversity, including 21 threatened species.
A “wildlife advisory” produced by Quebec government scientists as part of the analysis of the Northvolt project also highlights the “high ecological value” of the site, which is “one of the rare residual natural environments” in the region.
“The project causes a loss of natural environments (humid and terrestrial) serving as feeding, breeding and/or migratory stopover habitat for local and regional wildlife, [dont] several species in a precarious situation,” the government experts also underlined in their analysis. These findings recall the conclusions of government experts, in March 2023, to justify the rejection of a real estate project on the same site.
The final analysis report from the MELCCFP which led to the granting of an authorization at the beginning of January also details the mitigation measures linked to the authorization.
It specifies in particular that the company must propose and have approved within three years a project of “restoration and/or conservation of natural environments” which can reach a maximum of 500,000 m2 “on an alternative site”, ideally in the same region. The objective is to “minimize the loss of habitats used by wildlife, [dont] species in precarious situations.
Regarding the destroyed wetlands, financial compensation of $4.75 million was paid in December 2023. This is equivalent to approximately $34 per square meter. After a request for an injunction was rejected last Friday, Northvolt resumed work.
More details to come.