REGISTRATION OF ROAD, AIRSTRIP AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE THREATENS TO
FRAGMENT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF VOISEY BAY PROJECT
Innu Nation Calls for Single, Comprehensive Environmental Review
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Voisey Bay Nickel Company has registered under the Newfoundland
Environmental Assessment Act to build a new camp facility, 12 kilometers of
two-lane access road, a dock, and a 1250 meter long airstrip at Emish
(Voisey's Bay). According to the company, this infrastructure is intended
to support advanced exploration activities by providing improved access and
accommodations at the site. The company is seeking permission to begin
construction in May of 1996.
The Innu Nation believes that the company is attempting to fragment the
environmental review process in an effort to meet short-term objectives and
to avoid the expensive delays which may result from a full environmental
review. By registering only the above infrastructure, Voisey's Bay Nickel
Company is asking the Innu and Inuit, governments and the public to review
and comment on the infrastructure outside of the context in which it is
being built. We are being asked to review only a part of a major project
which is going to have major and irreversible effects on our land, rights
and way of life.
The goal of the Innu Nation is to ensure that there is a single,
comprehensive environmental review of the whole project: all of the parts
of what may eventually be a large nickel mine on Innu and Inuit land. By
registering the project in small parts, the company is failing to respect
the serious concerns of the Innu about the effects of the whole project on
the land, the wildlife and the culture that has sustained us for thousands
of years.
There are several important precedents for this approach. BHP's proposed
diamond mine in the Northwest Territories is presently undergoing an
environmental assessment under guidelines which required them to assess not
only the impacts of the mine, but the whole project, including regional
access roads. The Cree and Inuit in Northern Quebec went to court in order
to stop Hydro Quebec from registering the roads and other infrastructure
required for the Great Whale hydroelectric project separately from the dams
and reservoirs. They argued that the project could only be understood and
assessed as a whole, and Hydro Quebec ultimately agreed.
The purpose of an environmental assessment is to predict and evaluate the
impacts of a project before irreversible decisions are made. Roads and
airstrips are irreversible decisions with real impacts, but many of these
impacts can only be appreciated and understood in the context of the mine
they are intended to serve. Without an opportunity to review and assess the
project as a whole, it is impossible to make responsible decisions about
whether or not it should proceed. Without a clear picture of the whole
project, it is possible that decisions taken today will have to be changed
later as other considerations are taken into account, which will result in
impacts which might have been avoided with proper planning and assessment.
Fragmenting the project into parts also makes it likely that many of the
direct, indirect and cumulative effects of the project will be overlooked
during subsequent environmental reviews. The Innu and Inuit will have to
live with the consequences.
The Innu Nation believes that the whole project must be the subject of a
single, objective comprehensive panel review under a joint
federal-provincial environmental assessment process according to guidelines
that ensure that there will be full consideration of the environmental and
cultural impacts of the Voisey Bay mine. The process must provide for a
sound, thorough and balanced assessment of the Voisey Bay project. It must
also provide for a full and open consultation with the Innu and Inuit to
ensure that their concerns are fully incorporated into the guidelines. The
process must also ensure preservation of ecosystem integrity, the
maintenance of biological diversity, and respect for the right of present
and future generations to enjoy the sustainable use of resources and the
attainment of lasting social and economic benefits.
Support the Innu Nation's call for a single, comprehensive environmental
review of the Voisey's Bay project by:
1) Participating in the public review of the registration of Voisey's Bay
Nickel Company's "Advanced Exploration Infrastructure" under the
Newfoundland Environmental Assessment Act. Call 1-800-563-6181 or (709)
729-2562 and ask to be put on the public mailing list. Submit your comments
to the Minister of the Environment before 16 February, 1996.
2) Writing to the Newfoundland Minister of the Environment, Mr. Kevin
Alyward, and the Canadian Minister of the Environment, Mr. Sergio Marchi,
urging them to support a single, objective and comprehensive panel review
of the Voisey Bay project through a joint federal-provincial environmental
assessment process with provisions for direct Innu and Inuit participation.
Hon. Kevin Aylward
Minister of the Environment
Confederation Building
PO Box 8700
St. John's, NF A1B 4J6
tel: (709) 729-2574
fax: (709) 729-1930
Hon. Sergio Marchi
Minister of the Environment
Terrace de la Chaudiere
10 Wellington St.
Hull, PQ K1A 0H3
tel: (819) 997-1441
fax: (819) 953-3457
3) Calling, writing or faxing the Voisey's Bay Nickel Company, Diamond
Fields Resources and Inco to express your concerns over the fragmentation
of the project.
Mr. Rick Gill
Executive Vice-President
Voisey's Bay Nickel Co.
Suite 940 Cabot Place
100 New Gower St.
St. John's NF A1C 6K3
tel: (709) 758-8888
fax: (709) 758-8899
Mr. Cliff Carson
President
Diamond Field Resources
9th Floor, 200 Burrard St.
Vancouver, BC
V7X 1T2
tel: (604) 682-2113
fax: (604) 682-2060
Mr. Michael Sopko
President and CEO
Inco Limited
145 King St. W, Suite 1500
Toronto, ON
MS4 4B7
tel: (416) 361-7511
fax: (416) 361-7782
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
This alert and additional background information about Innu responses to
the Voisey's Bay mineral discovery can be obtained on the Innu Nation WWW
site:
http://www.web.apc.org/~innu