Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 05/02) - A public hearing on BHP Billiton's bid to open three new pits derailed almost as soon as the company finished its pitch Thursday.

A lawyer representing Dogrib Treaty 11 forced an early adjournment when she accused BHP of not submitting several documents in time for other parties to review them.

BHP needs permits from the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board to drain Sable, Pigeon and Beartooth lakes and mine three kimberlite pipes.

Jean Teillet, a Vancouver-based lawyer representing the Dogrib, drew the board's attention to a number of documents she had not seen before the hearing.

Her list included a set of 2001 baseline data, information on temperature experiments carried out earlier this year and a security deposit schedule.

Teillet was the first intervenor to speak after BHP appeared Thursday morning and early afternoon.

"It is impossible for us to deal with that in any adequate way right now, and we raise that as a grave concern," Teillet said.

"There's no suggestion that we were withholding information," said BHP legal counsel David Searle, defending the company against implications of negligence.

Argument turned around an important set of baseline data, information on existing conditions considered crucial to determining the environmental impact of any mining operation.

BHP said it submitted a letter to the board on March 28, saying the report was available online. Teillet said she approached the board on April 2 to ask for all available information, but was not provided with that letter.

A hard copy of the report was not made available until the hearing.

BHP permitting co-ordinator Derek Chubb waved a copy of the hefty volume, which appeared to contain several hundred pages. He said six hard copies and 10 compact discs were available.

After calling an adjournment to ask for legal counsel, hearing chair Melody McLeod called for other intervenors to come forward with details on information that was not previously available. One did just that.

McLeod then adjourned the meeting before any other intervenors had a chance to speak, asking BHP to provide them with copies of the report.

The Department of Northern Affairs and Indian Development has already signed off on the development, subject to the board's approval.

Making the case for BHP yesterday, Chubb was joined by several Yellowknife engineers who explained the steps involved in draining the lakes and managing the resulting water, effluent and rock.

The list of concerned parties includes the federal departments of Environment and Fisheries and Oceans, and the Independent Environmental Monitoring Agency.

The hearing was to resume today at 9 a.m. at Northern United Place.