NIRB sends Gray’s Bay impact statement back to proponent
West Kitikmeot Resources Corp. CEO ‘not disheartened,’ working with review board on new submission
West Kitikmeot Resources Corp. is working on plans to build a 230-kilometre road to Gray’s Bay, pictured here. (Photo courtesy of West Kitikmeot Resources Corp.)
A map depicts the route of the proposed Grays Bay Road and Port project. (Screenshot courtesy of West Kitikmeot Resources Corp.)
Work reviewing permits for the Gray’s Bay Road and Port project is stalled over changes needed in the project’s impact statement.
However, Brendan Bell — CEO of proponent West Kitikmeot Resources Corp. — says he’s “not disheartened” and work is underway to respond to feedback provided this week by the Nunavut Impact Review Board.
The board announced Monday that it completed its review of West Kitikmeot Resources Corp.’s impact statement for the proposed 230-kilometre road and deepsea port in western Nunavut.
That document — which is thousands of pages long — outlines how the project’s construction and operation could impact the region’s economy and environment, from animal populations to water and air quality.
But it’s still missing information, said Tara Arko, the review board’s director of operations, in a letter Monday addressed to West Kitikmeot Resources Corp.
Some details that need to be revised, Arko stated, relate to scientific data and plans to mitigate environmental impacts.
Other feedback is “administrative,” Bell said in an interview Tuesday.
“It’s really dotting I’s and crossing T’s. In some cases, it’s a little additional work that we had imagined would be deferred until later on in the process,” he said.
“To not get 100 per cent right out of the gate isn’t rare. It’s not surprising, for a project of this size and complexity.”
Bell and his team are doing their “homework,” he said, communicating with the review board to make sure all the required information is updated as needed.
“It’s a regulator being very diligent and doing their work and doing their job,” Bell said of the process.
Grays Bay gained national attention last week when Prime Minister Mark Carney referred it to his government’s Major Projects Office.
Carney created the office last year to fast-track infrastructure projects that are deemed to be of national importance.
The prime minister’s announcement is an “acknowledgement and a recognition that this project is going to be built if it gets its certificates and its permitting,” Bell said, adding that he’s in talks with investors who may contribute to the estimated $1 billion cost to build the road and port.
Zero possibility that road and port are built for $1 billion; heck, it costs a billion to construct a football stadium. Better budget $20 billion.
Also, aren’t the climate zealots worried that the winter road will be ice-free in a few years? If so, they’ll need barges year-round. Might as well dredge a river from Tibbitt to Coronation Gulf.
Originally was going to be a lil over 200 million dollars then trump was elected fraudulently then prices soared .
Investors ? Certainly not inuit. Will shares be optioned to invest in ? Certainly NOT.
I am not surprised with their rejection; all our institutions are now infiltrated with anti-development people. We need roads; we need mines; we need tourism; we need to build our communities and local economies. A welfare state is not the answer. We want more…
So holding a company to an extremely low standard is anti-development? Their impact statement was so poorly written that it doesn’t meet a minimum standard for review.
Just exploit nunavut is what they want to do. You will not see our inuit in business deals but southern based companies ,they will exploit nunavut lamds territory wide and you will see no training from the prefered industries just a road is what is being said about it .
The project hasn’t been rejected. The regulator is asking for more information, which is hardly surprising for a massive project.