Citizens Investigate Contamination at Northvolt Site

Environmental groups have begun testing water runoff as controversy grows over the $7-billion Northvolt lithium battery site along the Richelieu River.

Volunteers gather soil samples at the Northvolt site. PHOTO: Éanna Mackey

Editor's Note: This piece of journalism was made possible by The Rover’s Sept. 28 fundraiser. We’d like to thank everyone who came by and bought some raffle tickets as well. And if you were there in spirit, we’re grateful for that as well!

-Chris Curtis

By Éanna Mackey

As the electric vehicle (EV) market faces ongoing turmoil and potential collapse amid a drop in demand, Quebec’s largest-ever private investment hangs in the balance with Swedish lithium battery manufacturer Northvolt AB facing financial peril.

The Swedish manufacturer announced last month that they will cut 20 per cent of staff and pause expansion plans as part of a “strategic review” as they face a liquidity crisis. This is believed to exclude (at least for now) their plans on Montréal’s South Shore.

Their major expansion into Quebec is earmarked for the site of the former Canadian Industries Limited (CIL) explosives and chemical plant that straddles the banks of the Richelieu River between McMasterville and St. Basil-le-Grand, 30 kilometres east of Montréal. It is also the infamous site of two deadly chemical explosions that rocked the plant in 1975 and 1988.

Northvolt’s plans have been touted as Quebec’s largest-ever private investment, yet vast swathes of public money have already been spent to ensure that the project already marred in controversy goes ahead.

Up to $710 million of the public bursaries has been injected into the project. This includes a government-guaranteed loan of $240 million for the purchase of the 18.5 million square foot site as well as two separate convertible debt investments worth collectively $470 million.

Even more concerning came the news that environmental regulations had been tweaked by the Quebec government to accelerate the authorization of the project to ensure Northvolt’s investment amidst fears that the Swedish giant may choose another location. Despite more than six months of the François Legault government denying the allegations, Environment Minister Benoit Charette admitted to deliberately helping Northvolt avoid review by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) for fear of losing the project in March of this year.

How the government tweaked the rules without public consultation for the Swedish company involved an amendment to the regulation for the manufacture of cathodes from 50,0000 to 60,000 tonnes per year. This means it was below the threshold for a BAPE review, sparking fury amongst locals.

“Because of Northvolt’s urgency to build this plant there were no environmental hearings,” said Daniel Green, the former deputy leader of the Canadian Green Party and co-president of the Societé pour Vaincre la Pollution (SVP), one of Canada’s pioneer environmental groups. 

“The government changed the law and as it stands we don’t know what’s happening with the site, we don’t know the baseline levels of contamination, we know nothing because there were no public environmental hearings,” he said. “I’ve been following the site for decades and I was shocked when the government announced that the plant would be built here.

“It was a situation where the government was looking for investment and so the Quebec and Canadian governments made them an offer that they could not refuse. This was a test to see if a responsible government would follow its own rules and environmental protections and they chose not to.”

Jason Prince. PHOTO: Éanna Mackey

In the midst of its struggle for survival and having outlined its ambitions to reel in plans for expansion, the Swedish company remains steadfast in its plans for the McMasterville site. But news did break in early September that construction of the plant would be delayed by up to eighteen months due to the impact of the current market.

“It will be the greenest electric battery factory in the world,” said Legault in September 2023 when the government announced the investment, claiming that it would transform Quebec into a global player within the electric car supply chain.

Yet, 12 months on, nothing could be further from the truth.

Early this year, work began on tree clearance at the vast former CIL site to the dismay of residents and environmentalists. Almost 30 years since its closure, thorough decontamination has still not taken place, leaving behind buried heavy metals and toxic chemicals. 

Some of the toxins present include heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, and mercury, as well as nitro-glycerine, sulphur, nitrates, and TNT. These have remained untouched since operations ceased in the early 90s and in the absence of industrial activity, a wetlands area developed. It has since been destroyed to make way for the new plant.

Located on the banks of the Richelieu, there have been fears that the felling of trees, the disruption of the soil, and its buried contaminants could run off into the river, home to several endangered species. One such is the Copper Redhorse, a fish uniquely found in the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries, namely, the Richelieu.

Volunteers collect samples at the Northvolt site. PHOTO: Éanna Mackey

“We’re talking about 100 years of contamination and all of a sudden since the spring Northvolt has cut all of the trees and vegetation and is moving the soil,” said Green. “This river is a vital habitat and under our statues of endangered species it has to be protected, and so it’s very wrong that they have started working on a hazardous waste site that will endanger the habitat of the Copper Redhorse.”

Last Saturday, Sept. 21 saw the first round of sample collection of the site runoff as a group of 15 activists, volunteers, and residents took part. Amongst the organisers alongside Daniel Green and the SVP was a host of environmentalist groups including Le MARE, the Comité d’action des citoyennes, Méres au front, and SNAP Quebec.

Lucie Montagne is a local resident who remembers vividly the two explosions on site. Her family home located just over a kilometre from the planned factory suffered serious damage from the blast. She’s now worried that the site may be a risk to life once more.

“It’s our drinking water, children play here in the summer, 22 endangered species used to live here and on the wetlands and it’s all at risk,” she said. “I’m a local resident and we’re not happy that our government has bypassed rules and regulations for this plant to be built without us knowing and without a say.

“There are laws in Quebec that protect us as citizens, and taxpayers’ money has gone into this project — we’re supposed to have a say and right now we’re very angry.”

Jason Prince, the director of the Legacy Fund for the Environment, was also present. The Legacy Fund is a Montreal-based organization that finances citizen groups who seek to pursue a legal defense of their local environments.

If harmful substances are found, Prince’s organization may back further studies of the area and provide funding should legal action be undertaken.

“You would think that this international Swedish company building EV batteries would fit very nicely with our environmental targets but in reality, we’re bending all the rules and shoveling money into this just to get this going. It’s just not a good project,” he said. “This project is dead and even the politics that endorsed it are now turning against it.” 

With serious question marks hanging over Northvolt’s future as well as the litany of controversies surrounding the site, the project stands at a crossroads. Despite assurance from the Swedish company that construction plans for their South Shore megaproject remain unchanged, growing local opposition may present a further challenge.

Daniel Green outlined the myriad of complications facing the project.

“It’s unclear as to what will or can happen as there are many other issues besides environmental problems,” said Green. “Here is an industrial village of over 3,000 people, you’re doubling the population of McMasterville, we have a health crisis and a housing shortage here in Quebec. This project will cause more disruption to that.

“The big question now is can this Northvolt development even happen on the site? They need to ask themselves, is the level of contamination such that it will haunt them forever as they discover the pockets of pollution buried?

“Should they pull the plug entirely and find someplace else?  We haven’t even taken into account the financial viabilities of producing lithium battery cells in the current market or their precarious financial situation.”

So the question then arises as to what may happen if the $7-billion project is abandoned amid Northvolt’s financial storm. According to Jason Prince, there is only one answer.

“We need to stop this plant and restore this wetland to its natural habitat, we need to figure out how to help nature recover because electric cars are not the future, rather than a battery plant we need to make this an exceptional example of how we restore biodiversity in the Montréal region.

“My message to Northvolt is simple: we don’t want you. Go home and talk to Greta Thunberg.”

The Rover prides itself for reporting without corporate owners or asset-stripping hedge funds. We exist to serve you, our readers. As a reader-supported publication, you are our stakeholders and the people we're accountable to.

So if you believe in our mission and can get behind it, consider becoming a monthly donor today. Every dollar goes towards building a better informed Montreal.

Stories You May Have Missed