Report - Agence canadienne d'évaluation environnementale

Landscape unit to which Ville-Guay belongs
Territorial context of the project
According to the St. Lawrence River ecological reference framework (DesGranges
and Ducruc, 2000 1 ), the Québec City metropolitan area and, particularly, the land
concerned by the project have a relief which includes varied landscapes at the
intersection of three large natural regions, namely the Canadian Shield, the
Appalachians, and the St. Lawrence Lowlands.
More specifically, the study zone contains an elevated plain. Although the slopes are
generally gentle, they are steep in many places along the banks of the main
waterways. The coast of Beaumont on the St. Lawrence River comprises cliffs.
The landscape of the project considered site is located at about 4 km east of the
Lévis, Québec City, and Beauport industrial and port complex. The complex includes
the MIL Davie shipyard which is located in the urban environment of Lévis, grain
elevators, and other infrastructures belonging to the port of Québec. On the south
shore, the Pointe De La Martinière in Lévis marks the transition to a rural landscape. It
constitutes a natural and historic landmark with Fort De La Martinière, an opening
towards the rural environment, and an entry to the National Capital via highway 132,
also known as the Route des Pionniers, a name which underscores its historic past.
Beyond that, industrial activities near the river are only found at Montmagny. At Ville-
Guay itself, the environment has been modified by agriculture, highway 132,
expressway 20, and by urbanization. 735-kV power lines cross the river between the
south shore and île d’Orléans 1.6 km east of the project.
At the CMQ scale, a high level of artificialization of the banks is noted, more than
77 percent according to the atlas Biodiversity Portrait of the St. Lawrence
(DesGranges and Ducruc, 2000 2 ). Nonetheless, Lévis as well as Saint-Jean and
Saint-Laurent de l’île d’Orléans, represent a transition zone towards the east with their
less “artificialized” banks. Beaumont, on the south shore, and Saint-Pierre and Sainte-
Famille, on the north bank of île d’Orléans, are among the municipalities that have
been best preserved against artificialization along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec.
♦ Finding — The Panel notes that the landscape unit in which the LNG terminal project
and related facilities would be integrated is characterized by a varied landscape,
which stems from the encounter of three large natural regions, as well as the low
degree of artificialization of the river banks downstream from Pointe De La
Martinière.
1. Op. cit.
2. Op. cit.
Rabaska Project – Implementation of an LNG Terminal and Related Infrastructure 107