François Legault says environmental groups should “applaud” Northvolt

2023-09-29 23:05:46

Prime Minister François Legault said environmental groups should “applaud” the battery factory of the Swedish company Northvolt, while the project would not be subject to an evaluation by the Office of Public Hearings on environment (BAPE).

Mr. Legault announced Thursday, alongside the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, that the two levels of government are investing $7.3 billion for the construction of the battery factory in Montérégie, in Saint-Basile-le-Grand and McMasterville.

However, according to information from Radio-Canada, the Northvolt plant may not be subject to a BAPE assessment, because its production capacity would be 56,000 metric tons.

Last July, the Regulation relating to the assessment and review of the environmental impacts of certain projects was amended to avoid a BAPE assessment for battery factories that produce 60,000 metric tons or less.

Questioned on this subject during a press scrum on Friday, François Legault affirmed that “all environmental rules will be respected” during the establishment of the Northvolt factory, and that the BAPE “does not apply » in his case.

“I think all environmental groups should applaud this extraordinary environmental project,” the Prime Minister said.

“It’s a factory that is excellent for the environment, all environmental rules will be respected,” he reiterated.

The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, indicated Friday morning that the project should not be removed from the BAPE.

“In my opinion, when it comes to such important projects, the environment and citizens must be considered. We cannot just get around this aspect, especially given the size of the public funds we invest in this. That being said, that doesn’t mean that investing in the battery sector is a bad idea, you have to do things right if you want buy-in, and then you can’t reduce the environmental criterion every time.” , did he declare.

The federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, for his part seemed not to rule out an assessment by the federal government of the environmental impact of the project.

“Quebec has its own impact evaluation system. We obviously have ours. What we try to do as much as possible is not to duplicate environmental assessments so as not to burden the assessment process. So there are a certain number of criteria that must be met for a federal evaluation to be put forward. We will study whether or not the project should pass through the prism of a federal evaluation. The Quebec government will follow its own process,” said Mr. Guilbeault.

“We just need to be convinced”

For Patrick Bonin, head of the Climate-Energy campaign at Greenpeace Canada, an environmental assessment of the Northvolt project is necessary. If he does not immediately oppose the battery factory, he says he has “more questions than answers currently”, and that several details are missing.

“There are several issues, and for us it is important that the battery sector gets off on the right foot, and to do that, it takes a real public hearing where people will be able to ask questions, get their answers,” said he said in an interview, referring in particular to the BAPE.

Mr. Bonin also questions whether the province has enough electricity to carry out the project without having to build other infrastructure, such as dams, which would have significant impacts on the environment.

“It’s a niche of the future, batteries, that’s for sure, it has to be done well, it has to be produced as well as possible, that’s not the question. The question is how this project fits into the transition that Quebec must make with limited electrical capacities,” said Mr. Bonin.

“For us, we just need to be convinced, to see what the impacts of this project will be, will it be socially acceptable, will it fit in with the other issues that must be prioritized, such as, for example, the reduction of GHGs [gaz à effet de serre] in all sectors of Quebec for which we need electricity,” he added.