High Arctic military exercise unfolding near Resolute in March

Canadian Rangers and other Canadian Armed Forces personnel on the sea ice along Cornwallis Island as part of a training exercise held in 2015. The CAF is planning more exercises in the area this March. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CAF)

Nunavummiut have until the end of January to weigh in on the military’s next northern exercise, which will see more than 100 Canadian military personal conducting operations in the High Arctic.

Canada’s Department of Defence plans to conduct an exercise—dubbed “NOREX 17”—between March 6 and March 31, establishing temporary camps or patrols on both Cornwallis and Devon islands.

Roughly 130 military personal, including Canadian Rangers, will be mobilized in the region for acclimatization training and other military exercises.

According to the DND’s submission to NIRB, the operation will stage military training from the Canadian Armed Forces Arctic Training Centre in Resolute Bay as well as conduct more remote exercises in three operational regions near Eureka or Polaris and Gascoyne Inlet on Devon Island.

A temporary ice airstrip would also be constructed at Eleanor Lake, on the northern end of Cornwallis Island.

Aircraft, helicopters, snowmobiles and tracked vehicles will transport military personal to the various camps.

The DND estimates it will transport approximately 10 200-litre gasoline drums, as well as 200 litres of diesel and 60 litres of Naphtha—or crude oil.

Combustible wastes, sewage and grey water will be disposed of at Resolute or at an approved facility down south, the DND proposal reads, while hazardous and non-combustible wastes will be shipped to an approved facility for disposal.

You can see more information about the exercise on the NIRB’s public registry where you can look up keyword “NOREX 17” to access project information, maps, and public comment forms.

Until Feb. 1 you can provide the NIRB with your comments on whether the proposed project:

• is likely to arouse significant public concern and, if so, why;

• is likely to cause significant adverse ecosystemic or socio-economic effects and, if so, why;

• is likely to cause significant adverse impacts on wildlife habitat or Inuit harvest activities and, if so, why; and,

• is “a type where the potential adverse effects are highly predictable and can be prevented/managed appropriately with known technology.”

Members of the public can also recommend any specific mitigation measures they feel would be appropriate, and “to bring any other matter of importance related to this project proposal to the NIRB’s attention,” says a recently-circulated screening notice from the NIRB.

You can submit comments directly to the NIRB here or to the NIRB by email at info@nirb.ca or by fax to (867) 983-2594. Deadline for submissions is Feb. 1.