(McMasterville) Managers of the future Northvolt battery plant, which will receive $7.3 billion in provincial and federal aid, held an information session for the citizens of McMasterville and Saint-Basile-le-Grand in Montérégie on Wednesday evening.
Hundreds of citizens came to the high school for the first time for a series of meetings with Northvolt representatives.
“We want to make the greenest battery in the world,” but “we must understand that the word factory may have been poorly chosen […]“We can think more about a high-tech installation, so it is automated in most processes,” explained Laurent Therrien, Northvolt communications director for Northvolt.
Various booths were set up in the school cafeteria and citizens were invited to ask Northvolt employees, most of whom were European, questions about the company’s values, workforce needs or even the plant’s environmental impacts.
If many citizens interviewed by The Canadian Press seemed satisfied with the company’s responses, others, like Genevieve Cousineau, a former McMasterville resident who now lives in La Prairie, were “under the impression that we didn’t answer all of his questions.”
She is part of a group of citizens who launched a petition against the project.
According to the signatories, the 350-meter buffer zone between residences and the factory is unacceptable, and they fear noise, odor and transportation impacts associated with battery production.
“We are concerned and expected to be able to ask questions to senior managers,” Genevieve Cousineau said during a conversation with company spokesman Laurent Therrien, who in return offered to meet the company’s president.
Louise Boucher, who listened carefully to the conversation between Ms. Cousineau and the company’s spokesperson, explained that she “does not share the concerns of some citizens.”
There’s going to be a company, and there’s nothing telling us it’s not a good company. On the contrary, all the references provided to us are good. It’s not a mine, they don’t mine it, and it looks clean. I just took the tour and I’m reassured.
Louise Boucher, resident
Nearby, Louis Berthiaume, who “came to do his duty as a citizen,” said he felt reassured when he learned that the majority of emissions from the plant would consist of water vapor.
“There are still failed operations,” Louis Berthiaume condemned, however, when speaking of BAPE.
“The largest investment in manufacturing in the entire history of Quebec,” as Premier François Legault called it, may not be subject to evaluation by the General Public Office on the Environment (BAPE).
The regulation was amended in February by Quebec to allow the Northvolt project to escape BAPE testing, according to information first reported by Radio-Canada.
Its production capacity is 56 thousand metric tons, while the regulation related to the evaluation and examination of the environmental impacts of some projects has been amended to avoid the BAPE assessment of battery factories that produce 60 thousand metric tons or less.
Spokesman Laurent Therin insisted that “whether we are subject to BAPE or not, we will respect Quebec’s environmental law” and “we will not seek any concessions from the law.” “It is not our prerogative to determine whether BAPE applies or not, it is the prerogative of the Quebec government,” he added.
He added, “Dozens, if not hundreds, of officials are currently scrutinizing our project and wondering about its effects.”
Wetlands and protected species
Wetlands will be destroyed during construction of the plant and threatened bird species will be affected by activities at the site.
“We will try to avoid wetlands as much as possible and avoid the area inhabited by protected species that are less bitter, and if we do not succeed in avoiding them completely, we have an obligation to compensate,” noted Laurent Therin.
“We can compensate by creating new wetlands, or by financial compensation,” he said.
Effect on water
Laurent Therrien also explained that the “vast majority of the water” the plant draws from the Richelieu River will be used to cool manufacturing processes.
“It cools our processes and then we bring it back to the initial temperature of the river and return it to the river in its initial state.”
Another portion of the withdrawn water will be used to clean certain metals, he added, “but then it is filtered inside our factory and remains in a closed circuit in the factory, so the water that came into contact with the product will never return.” To the river.
Northvolt plans to completely “discharge and crush” the batteries it makes when they reach the end of their life. Copper, aluminum and plastic will be sent to partners for recycling. The remaining powder, called “black mass”, will be processed at another Norhvolt center in order to recover metals, which will then be used to manufacture other batteries.
Laurent Therrien explained that he visited the Swedish Norhvolt factory a few weeks ago.
“When I left the factory, I asked those accompanying me to stop for two seconds, so that everyone could calm down. Then I tell you, there was complete silence on set, so it was very quiet. The noise will be almost zero, the spokesman said.
Truck movement
The construction of the factory is expected to lead to traffic of 100 to 150 trucks per day, i.e. “less than 1% of the daily trips recorded on Route 116” that passes near the facilities, according to the communications director who specified this during the production phase. The company intends to favor rail transportation.
Northvolt also intends to promote the use of lithium and critical minerals from Quebec.
Currently, there are no active lithium mines in Quebec, but some projects in the James Bay region could come into production in the coming years.
Northvolt plans to prepare the plant site this fall, begin construction of some buildings in 2024, “deliver products to customers” in 2026, and plans to complete the first phase of construction in 2028.
These development phases will be closely followed by many citizens, like Isabelle Plante, who was surprised to hear the Prime Minister say that the largest manufacturing project in the province’s history would be built in her backyard.
“Taking the pulse of this meeting this evening, I see people who are curious, I see people discovering new things and technologies, I see people who are in favor of it, but it is mixed, and there are also people who are against, which is disturbing and worrying at the same time,” explained the woman who plans to participate in the committee. A citizen advisory that should be formed by the City of McMasterville to ensure that the project meets residents’ expectations is “interesting.”
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