Northvolt sanctioned for clearcutting in wetlands outside Montreal – Montreal [Video]

Northvolt, the large Swedish electric vehicle battery making company, has been issued a notice of non-compliance by the Quebec Environment Department after the company hired a subcontractor that clear cut 1,044 square metres of wetlands near the site of its future plant in Saint-Basil-le-Grand.

The area cut was not in the zone where preparation work is required to build the future battery-making plant.

In a press release, Northvolt writes, “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 what was on the land and the soil,” Laurent Therrien, a spokesperson for Northvolt, told Global News.

Therrien says the company is complying with all environmental regulations and requirements from the government department and it’s committed to replanting some trees that were destroyed.

The environment minister accepts the response.

“Collaboration is good with the enterprise. They were able to propose us a …