Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 10/02) - A public hearing on land and water permits for BHP was adjourned until May after several intervening groups protested the company's introduction of information they had not previously seen.

Jean Teillet, a lawyer representing Dogrib Treaty 11, pushed for the delay. She argued for more time to review a new calculation of reclamation security deposits proposed by BHP, as well as to analyze a 500-page report of baseline data for 2001.

BHP said it submitted a letter to the board on March 28 advising that 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.

On calling the adjournment, hearing chair Melody McLeod was careful to say it was not an implication of negligence by BHP.

BHP needs land and water permits from the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board (MVLWB) to drain Sable, Pigeon and Beartooth lakes and mine three kimberlite pipes there.

The volume of lakes to be drained is significantly less than those already emptied.

Teillet was happy with the adjournment, saying the hearing would have been "a sham" if it had been allowed to continue. She accused BHP of playing its cards too close to its chest and of being "very cavalier" about the hearings.

"BHP doesn't deal in an open way," she said. "They do it every time and I want to stop them from doing it."

BHP said it fully complied with the hearing process. Permitting co-ordinator Derek Chubb cited a number of dates when BHP provided various pieces of information, all before the hearing started.

"The adjournment ... isn't ideal for us," said BHP spokeswoman Denise Burlingame. "We had hoped that we could get through everything in the two days allotted for the hearing. But the adjournment and the time to review the documents should serve all parties well."

The hearing is scheduled to resume May 9 and 10. The location will be announced at a later date.

Elders concerned

A half-dozen intervening groups had registered for the hearing, including the Independent Environmental Monitoring Agency along with the federal departments of Environment, Fisheries and Oceans and Indian and Northern Affairs.

But only one of the groups spoke after McLeod told them to save any technical questions for the next hearing.

BHP presented its case for the permits on the first day of the hearing. The company's arguments focussed on measures being taken to minimize environmental impact, and spotlighted the planned use of existing technologies.

A trio of elders from Lutsel K'e did speak. They called on all groups to work in a spirit of co-operation to preserve the land's environmental integrity.

They also expressed surprise over BHP's expansion plans.

"I thought they were only going to develop one mine, but now it looks like they're going to develop two more. I didn't know that," said J. B. Rabesca.

Another elder, Liza Enzoe, added, "We are human beings. We have blood vessels, and our land has blood vessels, too. ... Before the water licence is issued to BHP, I want to know exactly what is happening to the water, because I live off the water."

Burlingame said that BHP has offered to fly elders to the mine site every summer, and doesn't view the new ore locations as an additional mining site.

"For us, it's incremental development of an already-existing mine," she said. "The same as if you were at an underground gold mine, you would be exploring new veins to extend your mine life."

Problems with availability of information stemmed in part from a new system used by the water board for this hearing.

Intervening parties were allowed to make information requests of BHP prior to the hearing.

However, the company was not given a deadline for response.

John Donihee, the legal counsel for the water board, said problems with this hearing should lead to changes for other hearings.

"We're going to take a careful look at deadlines for filing things," he said.