Northvolt injunction request hearing postponed

Hearings on the injunction application filed against Northvolt, scheduled to resume Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse, has been postponed until Wednesday.

In a press release issued Tuesday morning, the Swedish multinational indicated that the decision was made following a request by the City of Saint-Basile-le-Grand and an agreement between the parties.

The company adds it would not comment further "out of respect for the ongoing legal process."

Work on the site of the future plant remains suspended, it notes.

This is the second postponement of the hearing on the injunction application. 

Official proceedings began last week, but Judge David R. Collier with the Quebec Superior Court had postponed the hearing requesting provisional and interlocutory injunctions until Tuesday.

Early last week, the Swedish manufacturer began felling trees on the site of its future battery plant in the Montérégie.

However, work had to be put on hold while the Superior Court considered a request for an injunction filed by the Centre québécois du droit de l'environnement (CQDE) and three citizens.

The CQDE and the three citizens argue that the plant's work is "worrisome for biodiversity" and the multinational's land is a "habitat for numerous threatened or vulnerable animal species."

Last Friday, Judge Collier postponed the hearing until Tuesday to allow the defendants to familiarize themselves with the case.

In the meantime, the judge ruled Northvolt could not proceed "with tree-cutting work in wetlands and within 500 metres of them."

A provisional injunction normally lasts 10 days, but the CQDE and the three citizens are also requesting an interlocutory injunction.

The lawyer representing Northvolt said last Friday that a 10-day provisional injunction "would cause irreparable harm" to the company.

The proposed site for Northvolt's battery manufacturing and recycling plant is located on 171 hectares of land in Saint-Basile-le-Grand and McMasterville.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 23, 2024.