Nails placed in trees at future Quebec EV battery plant site, company says

MONTREAL — Swedish manufacturer Northvolt says the site of its future electric vehicle battery plant near Montreal was sabotaged after people drove nails into trees that were set be cut down.

Northvolt spokesperson Emmanuelle Rouillard-Moreau says nails or metal barswere inserted into about 100 trees Monday night at its site southeast of Montreal.

The company said in an email that such tactics can have serious repercussions for worker safety and render the trees unusable after they’re cut.

An anonymous group claimed responsibility on an anarchist website, claiming a desire to protest a megaproject they say will destroy woods and wetlands and perpetuate car culture.

The anonymous authors wrote on Montreal Contre-Information that putting the metal in the trees was an attempt to damage heavy machinery and make the forest harder and costlier to log.

Federal Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne denounced the alleged sabotage, saying that people have the right to protest but need to do it in an acceptable way.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2024.

The Canadian Press