SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The Mackenzie Valley Review Board heard the pros and cons of an expansion project that would keep Ekati Diamond Mine - about 320 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife - active until 2030 this week.

Mackenzie Valley Review Board members John Curran, left, Bertha Norwegian, and board chairperson JoAnne Deneron gather on the final night of public hearings in Yellowknife. - James Goldie/NNSL photo

The board, which is responsible for reviewing the development, concluded a series of public hearings on Dominion Diamond's proposed Jay Project in Yellowknife on Wednesday.

If approved, the Jay Project would keep Ekati operating for another 10 years, according to the company.

In outlining the project at the hearing's onset, review board chairperson JoAnne Deneron advised that "in its referral (to the board), Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada said given the scale, scope and magnitude of the project, that the potential impacts to water quality and quantity, the proposal might have a significant adverse impact on the environment."

The purpose of the hearings was for the board to directly hear from Dominion representatives and other parties, including government agencies, environmental groups and members of the public.

Monday's hearing focused on air/climate and socio-economic issues, while caribou and wildlife were the subject of Tuesday's hearing and aquatics was the topic on Wednesday.

"We as leaders have to walk a fine line between environment and economy," said Dettah Chief Edward Sangris in his opening remarks. "The industry and the government have to be accountable. We as Dene also have to be accountable to our future generations. That is why we participate in these hearings - to ensure that everything is the way our ancestors have instructed us to look after our land."

Brendan Bell, Dominion's chief executive officer, said his company views the Jay Project as a "key that could potentially unlock additional long-term opportunities at the Ekati mine," including "new, yet-undiscovered kimberlite pipes."

Bell described the project as being of critical importance to the North, adding Dominion employs more Northern and aboriginal people than any other Northern company.

The project involves extracting ore from a diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe at Lac du Sauvage. The ore would then be transported by trucks along Misery Haul Road and a proposed new road to the existing Ekati processing site where it is then to be milled.

During the life of the Jay Project his company expects to contribute more than $6 billion to the GDP of the NWT and more than $200 million in direct corporate taxes to the territory, he said.

The issue of mining impacts on the Bathurst caribou herd generated discussion and questions that went late into the evening on Tuesday.

"Clearly the existing mine developments have had, and continue to have, an adverse effect on the Bathurst herd," said Bill Ross of the Independent Environmental Monitoring Agency during his presentation on Tuesday.

Since 1986 the Bathurst herd's numbers have declined from 460,000 to close to 15,000, according to the latest research estimates.

Ross said based on Dominion's analysis, "the impact of Jay on the Bathurst caribou would be negative and small, and we agree. Some other day, we could argue about exactly how small, but it really doesn't matter as long as it's negative."

Ross also said the cumulative effect of the Jay project coupled with pre-existing impacts mining has had on the Bathurst herd would be significant.

Alex Power of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation reflected on not just the project's potential impact on lakes in the region, but on the environment more broadly, in his final remarks at the hearings on Wednesday evening.

"It's really hard to predict the future," he said.

"It's because of this that Yellowknives Dene really wants to reiterate that the need for a robust contingency plan is something we're looking for."

The review board has additional hearings in Behchoko, Lutsel K'e and Kugluktuk, concluding on Sep. 21.

The board is scheduled to determine whether the development should be approved and, if so, under what conditions, before the end of the year.

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