Northvolt determined to build
despite mounting opposition
Permission sought to discharge polluted water into the Richelieu River
By Irwin Rapoport
May 16, 2024
Opposition to the construction of the $7 billion Northvolt battery plant in McMasterville and St-Basile-le-Grand continues to grow and harden, all the while the provincial government and the company are determined to proceed with the project, which will result in the cutting down of more than 14,000 trees and destruction of a large number of critical wetlands home to many endangered and threatened species.
The plant, to be built on the former site of a CIL explosives factory, will produce batteries for electric vehicles. The CIL operations, over several decades, seriously polluted the land. Since CIL closed shop, nature has been reclaiming the area – rewilding it and providing a much-needed home for flora and fauna, be it common, threatened, or endangered. The rewilding process demonstrates how nature can heal itself when left alone and how quickly biodiversity can secure new homes to survive and thrive when permitted.
Since Westmount Magazine first reported on the project on February 27 with an article entitled The battle to stop Northvolt plant heats up, the opposition has become more vocal and determined and, in response, Northvolt is even more determined to build and proceed with a plan to divert highly polluted and contaminated water into the Richelieu River that would flow into the St. Lawrence River and end up in the growing dead zone in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Premier Francois Legault’s CAQ government, changing the regulations, exempted the battery plant project from a BAPE environmental review… The federal government has been deadly silent about the plan to clear the trees and wipe out the wetlands.
But let’s deal with the latest news in which the president of Northvolt is claiming homemade pipe bombs had been placed in construction equipment to be used to fill in wetlands and prep the construction site as trees are cleared. A May 6 Gazette article entitled ‘Incendiary devices’ found at construction site for Northvolt EV battery plant provides key details.
Premier Francois Legault’s CAQ government, changing the regulations, exempted the battery plant project from a BAPE environmental review. Without question, Legault was inspired by former Premier Phillipe Couliard, who passed a law exempting the REM commuter train project from environmental studies so that the elevated rail line from the South Shore to Two Mountains could proceed. For the Northvolt project, the federal and provincial governments have contributed $3 billion to the cost. The federal government has been deadly silent about the plan to clear the trees and wipe out the wetlands.
Understandably, environmentalists and numerous citizens object to the Northvolt initiative, particularly as opposition to the project is dismissed and opponents are being belittled and insulted.
The May 6 Gazette article expressed this attitude perfectly:
“The perpetrators of the attempted sabotage are ‘barbarians’ who must be ‘hunted out,’ Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said Tuesday.”
Fitzgibbon has been charged by the premier to oversee the plan to increase energy production in Quebec, which includes more hydroelectric projects in northern Quebec and the possible opening of nuclear power plants.
‘… companies, governments, and individuals who purposely wreck ecosystems and destroy biodiversity are the ones committing eco-terrorism and contributing to ecocide and the end of life on Earth.’
When opponents of projects causing considerable environmental harm and damage resort to violent acts to stop these projects, it is known as eco-terrorism. Employing such tactics has its supporters and detractors. My personal view is that companies, governments, and individuals who purposely wreck ecosystems and destroy biodiversity are the ones committing eco-terrorism and contributing to ecocide and the end of life on Earth. We need these ecosystems to survive, such as forests that provide oxygen. The ongoing attacks that are decimating the forests in the Amazon River Basin and Central Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, Canada, and Australia are extremely destructive and have serious ramifications. These vile actions must end.
In regards to these supposed pipe bombs, no evidence has been provided that they were found in regards to the Northvolt project and several months ago, opponents of the project placed spikes in trees to make it more difficult to tear them down. I applauded that action as it delays operations to wipe out forests and wetlands.
To be clear, there are numerous sites where this plant can be located. The reasons why this particular site is critical have not been provided. As pointed out, environmental regulations designed to ensure the process of issuing a construction permit is based on sound decisions that consider a wide variety of factors have been cast aside. It is worrisome in terms of the project and precedents for the future, which could allow the provincial government to avoid holding BAPE hearings for hydroelectric projects, granting licences to companies to harvest more trees in the already threatened boreal forest and permit municipalities to destroy forests, wetlands, and green spaces to allow residential, commercial, and industrial projects to go forward despite strong local and regional opposition.
‘… there are numerous sites where this plant can be located. The reasons why this particular site is critical have not been provided. As pointed out, environmental regulations designed to ensure the process of issuing a construction permit is based on sound decisions that consider a wide variety of factors have been cast aside.’
Le Devoir‘s Alexandre Shields, one of the province’s best environmental reporters, on April 23, wrote an article entitled Northvolt demande une première autorisation de rejet d’eau dans la rivière Richelieu. The hard-hitting report explained how Northvolt is seeking approval from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to divert heavily contaminated water into the Richelieu River, which would find its way into the St. Lawrence River and end up in the dead zone in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, an area that is expanding. Along the way, the polluted water would carry deadly chemicals through vulnerable aquatic habitats with local pollution and contaminants originating in the Great Lakes via industrial activity and untreated sewage pumped into the water by municipalities. It is a disaster for ecosystems, fish, turtles and amphibians, birds, and other creatures, as well as millions of people drawing their drinking water from the rivers.
The thought of the federal and provincial governments permitting this discharge of highly polluted water into rivers and the Atlantic Ocean is beyond belief and I fear it will be approved in the name of economic development. If we do not protect the environment and ecosystems that sustain all life on Earth, our only home, we have no future.
The phrase Think globally, act locally has been with us since 1971 and continues to guide many. Numerous Canadians desire that federal, provincial and municipal governments countrywide take this philosophy to heart. We must insist that elected officials protect our environment and the future of life on Earth. It is not too much to ask for.
* * * * *
Since I wrote this article, the provincial government has issued a most outrageous statement defending the Northvolt plant. The May 12 Canadian Press article entitled Northvolt should turn Quebec into a major EV player. So why are people so unhappy? provides the statement and additional information on why more Quebecers reject the project.
“[Premier Legault] lauded it as the ‘greenest electric battery factory in the world,’ but since then, the $7-billion project has managed to anger many across the province — particularly environmentalists.”
“Marc Bishai, a lawyer with the group that is suing Quebec – the Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement, or CQDE – said the widespread opposition is explained by ‘the way the government allowed the project to go ahead without respecting the laws that we as a society put in place.’”
“His group sought a court injunction to protect wetlands and stop clear-cutting on the 171-hectare site, which straddles two communities about 30 kilometres east of Montreal. It lost that application but continues its legal fight to invalidate the environment minister’s approval of preparatory work at the site.”
“Asked whether it was paradoxical that an environmental group is fighting an electric battery factory, Bishai said the CQDE ‘has never criticized the Northvolt project.’ Rather, his group is against the way the government pushed the factory forward ‘under conditions that are not democratic and sufficiently respectful of biodiversity and the population.’”
‘During the Vietnam War, Peter Arnett… made famous the quote, “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it…” And now, Premier Legault is employing a similar “logic” to defend the Northvolt project that would destroy hundreds of acres of critical wetland to have “the greenest electric battery plant in the world.’
The report also provides the provincial government’s arguments in favour of the plant and its decisions to ensure it is built:
“But Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette has said a full BAPE review would in fact have taken 18 months and led the Swedish company to look elsewhere. Before the project was announced, the government increased the threshold of battery production needed to trigger a review, raising it to 60,000 tonnes a year from 50,000. At a planned output of 56,000 tonnes a year, Northvolt is now exempt, but Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon has said the environmental regulations were not tailored to benefit the company.”
“In February, Legault told reporters it made him ‘sad’ to hear people criticize Northvolt, saying that ‘with this attitude’ Quebec would have been unable to build its major hydroelectric projects. ‘If we listened to these people, nothing would change,’ he said. ‘We would do nothing. So we really need to change this attitude in Quebec.’”
The report stressed how Nothvolt is more determined than ever to build on this site.
“Back at the Northvolt site, the explosives left under equipment were ‘rudimentary’ and did not detonate, Paolo Cerruti, co-founder of the Swedish company, told reporters last week.”
“’We are more determined than ever to go forward,’ he said.”
I believe there is a 30 percent chance of a relocation of the Northvolt project. If I am correct, the odds of relocation will increase as public opposition swells. I urge people to state their objections and ask family and friends to do the same.
During the Vietnam War, Peter Arnett, in an article about the battle for a town, made famous the quote, “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.” It reflected the insanity of the war and the American effort to protect South Vietnam. And now, Premier Legault is employing a similar “logic” to defend the Northvolt project that would destroy hundreds of acres of critical wetland to have “the greenest electric battery plant in the world.”
To learn more about the Northvolt project, check out these links:
The articles of Alexandre Shields
Sign the Petition to the House of Commons
Sign the Petition requesting a BAPE Report
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of WestmountMag.ca or its publishers.
Feature image: courtesy of Northvolt
Other articles by Irwin Rapoport
Other recent articles
Irwin Rapoport is a freelance journalist with Bachelor’s degrees in History and Political Science from Concordia University.
Shocking disregard for existing rules meant to protect the environment! This seems to be the worst possible location for this plant! Fisheries and environmental departments are doing an end run around their mandates. Simple solution. Find a more appropriate location for this plant!
It is beyond frustrating to hear yet again, that another corporation has been given the green light by the Govt. of Quebec to obliterate all the progress nature has made in re-wilding a previously exploited natural environment. This nefarious scheme of Northvolt aided and abetted by Mr Legault will surely raise the ire of individuals and environmental organizations, as indicated in this article.