Resignations follow firing of executive director over Doris North mine fracas

The Nunavut Water Board's entire technical staff has resigned to protest the firing of Philippe di Pizzo, their executive director for the past decade.

The board unanimously voted to dismiss di Pizzo, "without cause immediately," at a meeting March 23.

Insiders, who will not comment publicly and wish to remain anonymous, say the shake-up was prompted by the water board's decision in December to turn down a water licence application by Miramar Mining Corp. for its Doris North gold mine.

That decision was overturned at the same March 23 meeting that led to di Pizzo's dismissal. At the same time the water board agreed to move forward with public hearings for the Doris North application.

The Doris North project has been tangled in red tape since 2002, when it submitted its first application to the Nunavut Impact Review Board. The review board rejected it, but approved a second application in March of 2006.

So when the federal government gave Miramar a project certificate for the mine on Sept. 15, 2006, Miramar expected that remaining regulatory hurdles, such as a water licence, would be resolved quickly.

But that didn't happen. Instead, in December 2006, the water board rejected Miramar's water licence application, sending it back to the company to be completely rewritten.

That angered the Kitkmeot region's Inuit leaders and MLA, who see the mine project as an economic boon for the surrounding communities.

Donald Havioyak, president of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, slammed the water board decision as "both unprecedented and unnecessary," in a Feb. 23 letter in which he says the water board decision "includes a number of trivial concerns which could easily have been addressed cooperatively."

"KIA is concerned that the delay resulting from this NWB decision could mean that construction of the project may be further delayed. We urge the board to take a more collaborative approach to the completion of the Doris North licencing proceeding and to move it to completion as soon as possible," he wrote.

And Keith Peterson, MLA for Cambridge Bay, warned in the legislative assembly on March 23 that the application rejection "seriously jeopardized" the Doris North project, and the jobs and business contracts that the mine would bring to the Kitikmeot.

"We shouldn't throw up all kinds of hoops, hurdles, and red tape if proponents are spending millions and millions and millions of dollars," Peterson said. "We should try to find a way to work with the proponents to ensure that we do satisfy the environmental considerations and that the projects are not unduly delayed."

The water board's rejection of Miramar's application came as a surprise to many, because other organizations, such as the federal government, had given tentative approval to the application.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada said they considered the company's application to be complete, in a Dec. 8 letter – although they only conducted a "preliminary review," and requested that details be worked out in future meetings.

But in its 43-page letter to Miramar, the water board listed numerous problems.

In earlier correspondence with the water board, the Government of Nunavut's Department of the Environment questioned whether some requirements for the water licence exceeded the board's mandate.

In an Oct. 14 letter, the GN's Mike Mifflin wondered why a water licence should include provisions for noise abatement, wildlife monitoring and air quality.

Meanwhile, some conditions for water monitoring were missing, he noted at the time.

But water board technical staff defend the application conditions, saying they found many discrepancies between the company's plans and their licence application.

They also warn they have reservations about how the company proposes to store hazardous waste, such as heavy metals, at the site.

And they remain loyal to di Pizzo, who they describe as a charismatic leader with a strong vision of how the water board should act.

"He was a fantastic leader," said Matthew Hamp, a technical advisor with the water board who lives in Toronto. "We got things done under him."

Hamp is one of three technical staff who resigned shortly after di Pizzo was let go, although he will work for the water board until June.

Joe Murdock, director of technical services in Gjoa Haven, gave one month's notice last week.

And Zhong Liu gave one month's notice on Thursday last week.

The departure of these employees comes at a time when the board is being swamped with applications from municipalities to renew their licences, which are approaching their expiry dates.

Without these staff, it's unlikely the water board will be able to process licence applications.

On March 30, the water board appointed Dionne Filiatrault as interim executive director.

It's unclear yet whether licencing problems will delay the opening of the Doris North mine, scheduled for mid-2008. Miramar President Tony Walsh was travelling this week and couldn't be reached for comment.

When Miramar received federal approval in August 2007, the company hoped to ship construction materials to the site this summer, begin construction in the winter of 2007, and have the mine operational by mid-2008.

The Doris North mine, located east of Bathurst Inlet about five kilometres from the Arctic coast, is small – an underground gold mine expected to operate for only two years.

But Miramar hopes that extracting and selling the 300,000 proven ounces of gold at the site will provide them with enough revenue to open up a far bigger trove: the massive Hope Bay property that stretches for 80 kilometres southwards, which contains more than five million ounces of gold.