You no longer understand anything about the Northvolt battery factory? Are you confused about the thresholds and the reasons why it was not subject to the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment (BAPE)?
You are not alone.
The Minister of the Environment Benoit Charette and his colleague at the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, seem to be saying one thing and its opposite on this subject.
We are talking about a threshold of 50,000 tonnes which has been raised to 60,000 tonnes. We are talking about a second threshold of 30 or 40 gigawatt hours which was studied without ever being adopted.
In short, we are swimming in technical details.
Here I suggest you take a deep breath, take two steps back and three sips of relaxing herbal tea. And to ask two very simple questions.
The first: beyond the figures and thresholds, is it normal that the largest private project in the history of Quebec is not subject to an environmental impact assessment?
The second: what do we do from now on?
Is it normal for a project of the magnitude of Northvolt to escape the BAPE?
At first glance, I did not see how to answer “yes” to this question without calling into question the very relevance of this office created in 1978. Three lawyers specializing in environmental law confirmed my impression.
We would have expected, under the ordinary rules of the game, that this activity would be submitted because it meets the objective criteria for activities that are subject to impact studies, namely having significant environmental impacts.
Paule Halley, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Environmental Law at Laval University
“The project should have been subject to regulation,” says Hugo Tremblay, professor at the law faculty of the University of Montreal and expert in natural resources, energy and environmental law.
“The project should be submitted for examination by the BAPE, that seems obvious to us,” also says Camille Cloutier, lawyer at the Quebec Environmental Law Center – an organization which tried in court to slow down (in vain) the construction of the factory.
We are talking about the BAPE, but Paule Halley, of Laval University, specifies that it is first of all a “procedure of evaluation and examination of the impacts on the environment” that the project should have been submitted. Once this assessment was made, public hearings conducted by the BAPE could have been requested.
The BAPE “guarantees citizens the right to a public hearing prior to major works and major developments likely to affect the environment”, we can read on its website.
It is difficult to claim that Northvolt is not involved in “major projects”.
“This is the largest manufacturing investment in the history of Quebec,” rejoiced François Legault when the project was announced.
“It’s a big tabarouette,” he added on the same occasion.
It is obvious that a project of this magnitude leads to significant environmental, social and economic impacts – all dimensions that the BAPE focuses on, which listens to citizens and issues recommendations.
In recent years, the BAPE has focused on raising Route 349 between Saint-Paulin and Saint-Alexis-des-Monts. On the increase in the dairy herd of two farms in Saint-Albert. On the dredging of navigation channels in Saint-Paul-de-l’Île-aux-Noix.
But the creation of a factory which will create 3,000 jobs, occupy an area equal to 75 football fields, handle a whole range of metals and chemicals and benefit from a record injection which could reach 7 billion in public funds would escape his radar?
“If we were talking about a doll-making factory, it might be different,” says Professor Paule Halley with a joke.
No offense to Mr. Fitzgibbon, there is no logic in this – apart from the economic and political logic of not putting off foreign investors.
“The BAPE rules did not exist in the battery sector,” the minister also maintained in an interview with The Pressarguing that his government has therefore not violated any of them.
It’s too easy. It is true that before last July, no specific rules on batteries appeared in the regulation which dictates which projects must be subject to an environmental impact assessment. But it’s quite simply because it’s a new technological sector! A settlement is not a work of science fiction and cannot predict the future.
“It goes without saying that this regulation is expected to be modified periodically with the arrival of new technologies,” observes lawyer Camille Cloutier.
We may therefore brandish thresholds, but simple logic dictates that Northvolt should have been subject to an impact assessment and public hearings. The lighting provided could have made it a better project.
Once we’ve said that, what do we do?
According to Professor Paule Halley, the Legault government can no longer demand an impact assessment of Northvolt: the deadlines have passed. The only way would be to impose it by special law, but I wouldn’t even bet a sock with a hole on it. Quebec’s image among foreign investors would suffer, and let’s say that I have a hard time seeing François Legault and Pierre Fitzgibbon playing in this film.
The ball is therefore in Northvolt’s court. The company could itself request to undergo an environmental impact assessment and examination procedure. Or she could do everything to correct the government’s woeful communications errors.
“The promoter could show great openness,” illustrates Professor Paule Halley. He could ensure that all documents affecting endangered species, waterways, and all this information are made public. He could create a monitoring committee and involve citizens. »
In the circumstances, it seems to me the best avenue. Dear Northvolt bosses, the call is out.
What do you think ? Participate in the dialogue
reference: www.lapresse.ca