LandKeepers News Archive
Federal Panel Established for Prosperity Review
January 19 2009 | Media Releases | CNW Group
Canada’s Environment Minister establishes federal panel to review proposed Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine project
OTTAWA, Jan. 19 /CNW Telbec/ – Canada’s Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced today that the Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine project in British Columbia will undergo an environmental assessment by a federal review panel. The Minister’s decision follows a request from the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
“I am confident that the review panel will fully consider the environmental issues related to the proposed project and make sound recommendations to the federal government,” said Minister Prentice. “A review panel will provide opportunities for First Nations and the public to participate in the assessment of the project.”
The Minister established the panel and has appointed Robert Connelly as panel chair along with Nalaine Morin and Bill Klassen as panel members. Biographical information on the chair and the members is available in the accompanying backgrounder.
The federal environmental assessment process will be coordinated to the extent possible with the provincial environmental assessment process to minimize duplication and increase efficiency and effectiveness. The federal Terms of Reference to establish the review panel and the federal-provincial Guidelines for the preparation of the environmental impact statement are being issued. The documents were finalized following recent consultations with First Nations and the public. The federal Terms of Reference provide information on the process for conducting the review as well as further details on the scope of the environmental assessment. Under the Terms of Reference, the federal panel
will:
- conduct an examination of the environmental effects of the proposed project and the significance of those effects;
- consider measures that are technically and economically feasible to mitigate any adverse environmental effects and the need for, and the requirements of, any follow-up program with respect to the project; and
- consider comments from the public and First Nations that are received during the review.
The federal-provincial Guidelines provide direction to the proponent and identify the information that will be required in the statement of the anticipated effects of the project on the environment.
The Agency has made available funding to assist First Nations and the public to participate in the environmental assessment process. The participant funding recipients will be announced at a later date.
To obtain more information on this project, including the Guidelines and the panel Terms of Reference, consult the Canadian Environmental Assessment Registry at http://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca , reference number 09-05-44811.
Taseko Mines Ltd. proposes the development of a high volume open pit gold-copper mine to be located 125 km southwest of Williams Lake, BC. In addition to the mine and associated tailings and waste rock areas, the project includes an onsite mill, an approximately 125 km long power transmission line corridor and an access road.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency administers the federal environmental assessment process, which identifies the environmental effects of proposed projects and measures to address those effects, in support of sustainable development.
——————————————BACKGROUNDER—————————————————————-
PROPOSED PROSPERITY GOLD-COPPER MINE PROJECT FEDERAL REVIEW PANEL – BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Robert (Bob) Connelly
Mr. Connelly is a consultant who has worked in the field of environmental assessment for much of his career. He graduated from the University of Waterloo in 1970 as a civil engineer. Mr. Connelly has devoted most of his career to public service and has wide-ranging experience with environmental assessment.
He worked for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and its predecessor, the Federal Environmental Assessment Review Office, for 27 years. He was appointed as Acting President of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and served in this capacity for 17 months before his retirement in 2005. Prior to this, Mr. Connelly served as Vice-President, Policy Development for ten years and was responsible for policy and regulation development under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, research and development, inter-governmental affairs, relations with Aboriginal organizations, as well as international programs. In 2006, the International Association of Impact Assessment presented him with the Rose-Hulman Award in recognition of his contribution and leadership in the field of environmental assessment.
Mr. Connelly has extensive experience chairing federal and joint environmental assessment review panels across Canada. He chaired federal review panels examining issues related to the problem of diseased bison in Wood Buffalo National Park, and the twin tracking program for a CN Rail corridor in British Columbia. Mr. Connelly co-chaired the joint federal-provincial panel reviewing the construction of a second nuclear reactor at Point LePreau, New Brunswick and is currently chairing the joint review panel reviewing the natural gas drilling project proposed in the Canadian Forces Base Suffield National Wildlife Area in Alberta.
Bill Klassen
Mr. Klassen is a senior consultant with AECOM with extensive experience in natural resource management and environmental assessment in northern Canada. He has a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Management from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and obtained a Master of Forestry degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He resides in Whitehorse.
Mr. Klassen has lived and worked in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Alaska for the past 40 years and has held senior administrative positions in the Yukon Government. He has served as both Deputy Minister of Renewable Resources and Deputy Minister of Health and Human Resources for the Yukon Government. He worked as a consultant for government, First Nations and the private sector on a wide range of projects and has facilitated the engagement of Aboriginal communities in resource development projects. He was the federal member on the Environmental Fund Board for the Anvil Range Mine for ten years.
Mr. Klassen has broad experience with environmental assessment in northern Canada. He represented the Yukon Government in negotiations related to the drafting of the Yukon Environmental and Socioeconomic Assessment Act. He was appointed by federal Order-in-Council to chair the Environmental Impact Screening Committee, the committee that screens all development projects, for the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the western Arctic. He served as Yukon member of the Environmental Impact Review Board for the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.
Nalaine Morin
Ms. Morin has worked for a number of years as a metallurgist and environmental supervisor in mining and resource development in Manitoba and British Columbia. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree from the University of British Columbia, a Mechanical Engineering Technology Diploma from the British Columbia Institute of Technology, and is currently working on a Masters of Applied Science degree from the University of British Columbia. She resides in Sparwood, British Columbia.
Ms. Morin has lived and worked in Manitoba and British Columbia and she is currently the manager of the Tahltan Heritage Resources Environmental Assessment Team where she has developed processes for the inclusion of Tahltan knowledge in the environmental assessment and permitting processes for resource development projects in Tahltan territory.
During her time at Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting in Flin Flon, Manitoba, Ms. Morin was successful in gaining experience both as a metallurgist in milling, smelting and hydrometallurgical operations and as a supervisor where she was responsible for the environmental water and air monitoring programs.
For further information: Media: Lucille Jamault, Senior Communications
Advisor, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, (613) 957-0434
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2009/19/c8258.html
This Entry is Not Tagged. Click here to Add Tags