Fallout continues over construction plans for Northvolt EV battery plant

The environment minister has no plans to find Northfolk after the government learned the Swedish company destroyed a vast area of wetlands, a surface area equivalent to four tennis courts. Collaboration is good with the enterprise. They were able to propose us a plan of to correct the situation. In a press release, Northfolk admitted to accidentally clear cutting 1044 square meters of wetlands. At least 2 ash trees were cut in an area outside of where the company is preparing to build its battery making plant for EV vehicles. Company insists this wetland is disconnected from the water system and its ecological functions have been assessed as low to medium. The machine did not effectively hurt the land and what was on the soil, Laurent Terian says. It received a notice of non compliance from the government and new trees will be planted to replace those that were felled. We’re committed to complying with environmental regulations and we’ll make sure to learn from that situation. That is totally unacceptable. I mean, we’re talking about a multinational here. Patrick Bone insists government inspectors only visited the site three weeks after Greenpeace issued complaints about the clear cutting 1000 square meter has been destroyed. Will take years for for the creation of the the same ecosystem. Greenpeace says a full environmental hearing should still be held on the impact that preparation of the land and the building of the plant will have on the ecosystem. So the government should use that and make sure that there’s a better social license for this project. Northvolt is preparing to build its lithium ion battery making plant to eventually power up more than 1,000,000 electric vehicles a year. Making company insists going through a full environmental review hearing would create economic constraints. We have a contract in place that requires Norfolk to be able to deliver cells in July 2026. Unless the government orders an environmental assessment review, then Northolt can likely go ahead and build its battery making plant with very little political hindrance. Tim Sergeant, Global News, Montreal.