Qamanittuaq/Baker Lake
By all accounts, the Nunavut Impact Review Board's final public hearing over 10 days in Baker Lake on Areva Resources Canada Inc.'s final environmental impact statement for the Kiggavik project was productive and satisfactory.
Despite a motion to suspend the hearing on its first day, March 3, Baker Lake Hunters and Trappers Organization chairperson Richard Aksawnee says the hearing was good.
"I think we made it clear where we stand as far as our terms and conditions if the project were to proceed with a project certificate," Aksawnee told Nunavut News/North. "We're not against the proposed Kiggavik mine, we just want to make sure our land and wildlife are protected for our hunters."
Areva's proposal would see one underground and four open-pit mines approximately 80 km west of Baker Lake in between two caribou calving grounds - Beverly and Qamanirjuaq - and near the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary, considered the largest and most remote wildlife refuge on the North American continent.
Aksawnee adds, though, that the project's lack of start date remains a concern.
"We're glad we were able to be part of the process. We feel the HTO is supported by other organizations and interveners."
Areva is satisfied the hearing went very well.
"The meetings were well attended, inclusive, and respectful," said Barry McCallum, Areva's manager of Nunavut affairs. "There was an excellent discussion of many aspects of the proposed project."
McCallum responded to News/North's questions about the primary concerns regarding the lack of projected start date, the uncertainty of the nuclear industry and environmental protection.
"The nuclear industry like most industries is subject to highs and lows and we are currently in an industry low time," said McCallum. "Areva's financial status is part of this. Looking ahead, nuclear power is expected to be a major contributor to base load power generation for the foreseeable future. Currently, 60 per cent of the world's people live in countries with nuclear generated electricity.
"Despite some changes to nuclear energy policy in a few countries, the percent of the world's people living in countries with nuclear generated electricity is expected to rise to 70 per cent by 2030. The demand for uranium is expected to be greater than the supply in the 2020s.
"Areva continues to see the Kiggavik project as a project for the 2020s and 2030s."
As for environmental protections, McCallum is clear on the fact "the comprehensive assessment carried out concludes that ecosystem integrity will be maintained and the land-based economy not compromised by the proposed Kiggavik project."
About the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary, he states, it's "located approximately 100 km to the west of the proposed project. It is upstream and upwind of the project with no project-environment interactions near it."
As for the calving and post-calving grounds, "the Kiggavik final environmental impact statement assessed the project and cumulative effects of the proposed Kiggavik Project on caribou and concluded there would be no significant effects."
Baker Lake MLA Simeon Mikkungwak spoke about the proposed project in the legislative assembly on the final day of the winter sitting, March 17.
Listing many interveners in the hearing process, Mikkungwak said he hoped Nunavut Impact Review Board would consider all submission "with great care."
He referred to a submission from the hamlet of Baker Lake and then questioned Economic Development and Transportation Minister Monica Ell on whether the territorial government supports or opposes the Kiggavik project. Ell did not directly answer, saying only the GN had made submission as an intervener. The Baker Lake MLA noted the GN had included more than 40 recommendations and proposed terms and conditions for the project in its submission.
At the hearing in Baker Lake, the municipality attempted to keep the record open for further submissions because the community appears to still be divided, but the board's chair Elizabeth Copland announced the record closed.
The board committed to preparing its report and associated recommendations within 45 days from the close of the hearing record, at which point the report and recommendations will be submitted directly to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister Bernard Valcourt for approval.
"If the board determines that the Kiggavik project should be allowed to proceed, the board would also recommend terms and conditions to be included in a project certificate that would, in the board's view, be required to appropriately manage and mitigate the potential socio-economic and ecosystemic effects of the proposed project," stated Copland at the close of the hearing.
With the record closed, Nunavut Impact Review Board staff and members were instructed not to answer media questions related to the file, such as whether or not recommendations could address any changes in best practices between now and a proposed 2020 or 2030 project start.
