Husky Oil's request to drill for silica deposits at Whitebeach Point is undergoing an environmental assessment after the Wek'eezhii Land and Water Board ruled the project a "cause for public concern." - NNSL file photo |
'Public concern' halts drilling
Environmental assessment on Whitebeach Point project provides temporary delay
Meagan Leonard
Northern News Services
Friday, February 20, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Husky Oil's request to conduct exploratory drilling at Whitebeach Point, approximately 50 kilometres from the city, has been deemed a "cause for public concern."
An environmental assessment of the project is in front of the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board to investigate the potential environmental, economic, cultural and social impacts of drilling.
In December Husky submitted a land-use application to the Wek'eezhii Land and Water Board with the intent of testing for high-quality silica deposits at Whitebeach Point.
Silica is used in hydraulic fracturing - commonly known as fracking - to keep fractures open.
After receiving feedback from the public and aboriginal groups, the board referred Husky's proposal to the the review board. The action is a relative anomaly, with only five per cent of such applications going to assessment.
Concerns stem from the site's location next to a protected area - which those in opposition argue could disturb the graves of ancient hunters and trappers if operations are expanded in the future. It is also the location of a battle between the Tlicho and Akaitcho during the 1820s.
For the aboriginal groups, news of Wek'eezhii's decision has been temporary relief.
Bobby Drygeese, a Yellowknives Dene First Nation councillor who owns and operates B. Dene Adventures represents one group that has spoken out against the project and says this is a positive step that will help generate increased understanding of the environmental and cultural significance of the area.
"The more information they have the better," he said. "Hopefully this will help people understand we need to protect it as much as possible. If they open up more land there is going to be a lot of disturbance, especially in specific areas where there are burial sites and medicinal plants."
However, others feel conducting an environmental assessment is blowing the reality of Husky's proposal out of proportion.
Tom Hoefer, executive director of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines says an assessment at such an early stage in the project is "worrisome."
"They're doing a very preliminary sampling project," he said. "When you go to (environmental assessment) what you've done now is you've kicked it up into a more complicated process."
Hoefer says this is an issue the chamber has brought to the government's attention over the last seven years. In the past he says it has deterred smaller investors.
"It's what we see as unnecessary - referring of little grassroots projects up to environmental assessment," he explained. "Here's a little company in front of the whole massive review board that would do a diamond mine ... it's overkill for a little project."
The Wek'eezhi report stated "the public concern identified in relation to this proposed land use operation is substantial and widespread ... it should be addressed before operations are initiated."
Mark Cliffe-Phillips, executive director at the Mackenzie Valley review board says it is too early to determine how long the assessment process will take but it could be anywhere from nine to 16 months.
"We're still looking over the referral and the preliminary screening to see what the major issues are," he said.
"Until we undertake the scoping exercise we don't know exactly what the issues will be or how long it will take."
While there is no outright cost to conduct an environmental assessment, each party involved is responsible for funding its own aspects of involvement says Cliffe-Phillips, for example obtaining supporting documents or holding a public hearing.
If successful in its application, Husky has said operations will be based out of Yellowknife and last four to six weeks from March to April; however, at this point the work would only be exploratory.
Husky media spokesperson Kim Guttormson told Yellowknifer in an e-mail the company will be waiting for the review board to outline its process before determining next steps.
Whitebeach Point is located on the North Arm of Great Slave Lake and is a popular destination for tourists, hunters and fishers.
- with files from Stewart Burnette
