Baffinland EIS needs “rigorous process of review”

Mining Watch Canada would like to congratulate Nunatsiaq News on your coverage of the release of Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Mary River Iron Ore Project.

It was no small effort to review the documents to draw out the key points you’ve included in your recent articles.

We do think it important to emphasize the fact that the conclusions provided throughout the EIS are those of the company Baffinland (now owned by ArcelorMittal) and their consultants and that they have not yet been scrutinized by community members, Inuit organizations, government agencies or independent experts.  

It is no surprise that the proponent concludes that, while there may be impacts these can all be mitigated or are too small to have significant impacts on the environment.

This is what all company-written impact statements conclude and it is in their own self-interest to reach such conclusions. It is only through a rigorous process of review that these conclusions can be verified and validated or challenged and rejected.

In a recent case, the federal review panel that examined the proposed Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine reached vastly different conclusions from the proponent about the projects effects and their significance.

This significant negative effects of the project led the federal government to reject the project — despite company claims that all negative effects could be mitigated or were not significant.

The people of Nunavut and in particular residents of affected communities, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, government agencies, and interested parties such as Mining Watch will have an important role to play in assessing the validity of Baffinland’s claims in the months ahead.

We look forward to seeing more excellent coverage of the environmental assessment process in the Nunatsiaq News as it moves forward.

Ramsey Hart
Canada Program Coordinator
MiningWatch Canada
www.miningwatch.ca

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