Changes by Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation would see iron ore from its mine site shipped through Milne Inlet for more than 20 years beginning in 2015. Residents of the hamlet of Pond Inlet say they were not clearly informed of the changes to the project.

MITTIMATALIK/POND INLET
Pond Inlet residents are fuming over changes to the Mary River project that would allow Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation (BIM) to use Milne Inlet to ship iron ore for more than 20 years.

Representatives from the High Arctic community, located 160 kilometres north of the site, say they were shocked and surprised to find out the corporation planned on using the important gateway as a shipping route for more than five years.

"We want to address the actual process and how the community is not equal partners in this," said Shelly Elverum, an anthropologist and Pond Inlet resident who worked on the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit component for the project.

"We only found out about this a few months ago when the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) came to town and asked us if we understood Milne Inlet was to be used for the life of the project. It's a big issue from the community's perspective and we weren't clearly informed of their intention."

In January, BIM surprised many by announcing it was scaling down the Mary River Project as a result of poor financial conditions worldwide.

It requested approval of an Early Revenue Phase (ERP) that would allow it to reach production and make money sooner.

The new plan would allow production to begin in 2015 at 3.5 million tonnes a year, as opposed to the original 18 million tonnes.

The ore will travel along the Tote Road to Milne Inlet Port, where it will be shipped to market through Milne Inlet during the open water season.

The significant drop in production will allow BIM to generate revenue earlier and wait for better financial conditions to bring its full project to scale.

Another plan, which involved building a lengthy railway from the mine site to Steensby Port, and shipping the iron ore south through Foxe Basin, was postponed.

The company has previously stated the open-pit mine has a projected 21-year lifespan.

Elverum, along with a few other members of the community, are concerned with impacts to marine animals, as well as socio-economic impacts to Pond Inlet.

"When you hear 'early' and 'phase' you're under the impression this is short term," she said.

"BIM has been to the community many times, giving presentations, but has never made it explicit that this was their intention. Dating back to 2005-06, when I was doing IQ studies, BIM was doing well and listening to the community, which said they never wanted any shipping to go through Eclipse Sound."

She says BIM told them they respected IQ and wouldn't ship through the area.

Now, she says the corporation has changed hands - and its tune.

"Two of us recently went down to a technical review and asked BIM to make it explicit, and their response was that they hadn't hidden anything, it could be found in the technical documents. You have to remember they're providing us with giant binders with technical information and in there somewhere is a statement that this is intended for the life of the project."

Pond Inlet deputy mayor Joshua Arreak is heavily involved with the issue and is mostly concerned with the impact on marine life, stemming from increased activity in Milne Inlet.

The area is an important calving ground for narwhals and has been a site for caribou hunting for thousands of years.

"I don't now if the community alone can stop or delay this, but we want our environment protected properly," Arreak said.

"We're also concerned about not being informed. I think we're thinking they had this planned all along."

Arreak added the community feels it has also been left behind by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA), which is acting as Pond Inlet's representative in the project.

"It's QIA's role to provide us with a lawyer or consultant here, and they have not," he added.

"With no staff, no consultant, everything is being dumped on the community."

The community has until Jan. 13 to go through a dozen volumes of technical information and file written comments to be considered at upcoming public hearings, which begin Jan. 27.

Elverum said given the compressed time frame and limited resources to go through the information, it's unlikely to get done.

The onus should be on the proponent to make their intentions clear, she added.

"It shouldn't be on the community, which is already stressed beyond capacity to deal with issues like these," she said.

"Someone needs to enable communities to have resources to fully participate in these things. If we don't have staffing and funding to enable ourselves to respond to this, how can we show up at the table with people who have legal counsel and technical expertise?

"We've exposed a serious flaw in the review process in Nunavut."

- with files from Lyndsay Herman and Daron Letts

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