Northvolt promised Wednesday that it would demonstrate “transparency”, but unlike the procedure imposed on large industrial projects in Quebec, the documents submitted to the government with a view to obtaining the various authorizations will be made public only once the latter will have been granted. The company says it does so in the name of “serenity” in its analysis.
Details on the pumping and discharge of water into the Richelieu River should not be known before 2025.
After months of a public debate which gained momentum on its battery factory project in Montérégie, Northvolt held an “information session” on Wednesday to take stock of the development of this “giga- factory” supported and financed by the governments of Quebec and Canada.
The company has also repeatedly repeated its desire to “share information proactively”, with the aim of “developing the project with transparency”, argued the CEO of Northvolt America of the North, Paolo Cerruti. Thus, “the main documents filed by Northvolt to obtain environmental authorizations will be made public,” he underlined.
This disclosure of documents submitted to the government will, however, only be done “once the authorizations have been issued,” Northvolt specified. “We do not do it before, because we want the analysis of the information to be done with the greatest serenity,” explained Mr. Cerruti, saying he wanted to avoid that “the civil servants” were “subject to pressure media” (in relation to the environmental constraints imposed on the company, for example).
Document redacted
The duty has also attempted to obtain the “technical” document filed by Northvolt with a view to obtaining authorization from the Quebec Ministry of the Environment for the “construction of a giga-factory for the production of batteries and [l’]establishment of a rainwater management system. This request is under analysis. It was presented on December 22, before Northvolt obtained authorization to destroy wetlands and cut down several thousand trees on its land.
The document obtained through the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies was redacted at the request of the company. It is therefore not possible to know the details of its plant project and its environmental risks, particularly with regard to the discharge of contaminants into the Richelieu River and the anticipated repercussions on the fauna and flora, including threatened and vulnerable species, or their habitats.
If the company had been subject to the environmental procedure imposed on all major industrial projects in Quebec, it would have had to produce an impact study and subsequently respond to written questions from experts from different ministries, before the holding of an examination under the aegis of the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment (BAPE). And all the documents would have been published gradually, ahead of the BAPE and several months before any decision was made on the project.
The Legault government, however, closed the door to such an environmental procedure in the case of Northvolt. “We can consider ourselves privileged and lucky, because he is a very good student from an environmental point of view,” said Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette last month. “We have adapted the regulations to implement this sector which is necessary from a strictly environmental point of view,” the minister then added.
What water needs?
On Wednesday, Northvolt stressed that it had to obtain a dozen government authorizations for the realization of its project. The company did not want to elaborate on the details of the pumping and water discharge system into the Richelieu River, which will be essential to the operation of the plant. The information should be known in 2025, once the authorization request has been granted.
Northvolt says it is hopeful it will be able to obtain it, but this aspect of the project has raised questions in recent months due to the presence of three drinking water intakes downstream of the plant and the existence of a protected “critical habitat” of the copper redhorse, an endangered species of fish. This means that it is strictly forbidden to destroy any element of this habitat unless you obtain a “permit” from the federal government.
The company clarified on Wednesday, regarding the short term, that the construction of the first phase of the factory would lead to a “temporary increase in truck volume”, which could reach 350 to 450 heavy vehicles per day in the sector. “Mitigation measures” are therefore planned, including management of truck traffic in Saint-Basile-le-Grand and McMasterville, but also “a sound monitoring program during construction work in order to ensure compliance standards applicable in the surrounding neighborhoods.”
What’s more, temporary access to the site is in preparation. This path is being built thanks to funding of $22 million in public funds granted last fall by the Legault government.
6,240 more trees to cut down
Furthermore, when the felling of trees and the destruction of wetlands was authorized at the beginning of January, there was talk of a little more than 8,000 trees to be cut and 138,000 m2 of wetlands to be filled in, on a site which until now had “high ecological value”.
On Wednesday, Northvolt, however, indicated that 6,240 additional trees will have to be cut on the McMasterville side. The company promises to replant 2.5 trees “for every living tree removed.” Cuts are planned over the next few days, until April 15, with more taking place later this year.
It must be said that from mid-April, federal environmental regulations prohibit the destruction of potential nesting sites for migratory birds. They must be destroyed before their arrival. Several dozen species of birds frequent the site, some of which are threatened.
In addition to the request for ministerial authorization for the construction of the factory, Northvolt has submitted a request to excavate contaminated soil present on its site, revealed Monday The duty. 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 will be excavated.
It is the company that is responsible for monitoring the “quality” of the soil. “We are going to make this site better than what it is today,” Paolo Cerruti said on Wednesday, referring to the removal of contaminated soil.