Baffinland Mary River Project

Baffinland Mary River Project

Environmental Assessment MethodsMarine Environment VECs

Workshop Session02 November 2011

Contents

• EA Methods• Marine Environment• VEC Selection• KIs• Measurable Parameters

Environmental Assessment Methods

• General Principles• Prediction Methods – “Significance”• Tools used in Effects Prediction• Mary River EIS Issues– Adequacy of Baseline– Adequacy of Project Description– Thresholds and Magnitude– Significance Determination

Guidelines• “ Deficiencies in baseline data increase uncertainties in the

prediction of potential impacts, and consequently require an intensification of corresponding monitoring and mitigation programs…..”

• VECs– Marine and Coastal Habitats including sea ice and seabed sediments– Marine fish and invertebrates– Marine mammals including such representative species as polar bears, seals,

bowhead whales, walrus, beluga whales, narwhals.

• Baseline Data• “Descriptions of marine wildlife populations”

Ringed seal “ at least a few million”

Walrus “population numbers or trends are not well known”

Beluga Eastern High Arctic Baffin Bay(21,213)Western Hudson Bay (57, 300); Eastern Hudson Bay (2,453); Ungava (endangered) Narwhal > 63, 000 Bowhead (Eastern Canada- West Greenland population) – 6,344

Polar Bear Foxe Basin (2,119); Baffin Bay (2,074);

Davis Strait ( 2,100)

General Principles

• What is an environmental assessment?• a planning process• a tool to communicate a project’s

environmental impacts and mitigation measures.

• an approval process– high level decisions on – overall acceptability of major undertakings.

Timing of Environmental Assessment

• normally carried out “as early as possible” in the Proponent’s Project definition process.– affects detailed design; however – less than perfect or highly detailed plans are

available for the EIS.

Significance

“significant adverse effects”

Direction +Frequency, Duration +Extent +Reversibility +Magnitude

Measurable Parameter

= Significance of Effect

Probability + Level of Confidence = Certainty

Dealing with Uncertainty

MagnitudeComplexity

Geographic Extent

Significance of Impact

FrequencyDuration

Reversibility

CertaintyProbability

Level of Confidence

DirectionNature

Significance

Certainty

IMPACT PREDICTION

Baseline Environment Description

• Misconceptions– “complete” body of knowledge required for

effects prediction• Rare to have “perfect” level of information for

decision-makers• Implies that detailed and final Project description is

available

Baffinland Iron MinesMary River ProjectMARINE ENVIRONMENT

October 18, 2011Technical Meetings

Marine VECs & Key IndicatorsMarine Mammals• Ringed Seal• Bearded Seal *• Walrus• Beluga Whale• Narwhal• Bowhead

Whale• Polar Bear

*Added based on an Information Request.

Sea Ice• Landfast ice in

Steensby Inlet• Pack ice along

southern shipping route *

* Added based on an Information Request.

Water & Sediment Quality

• water quality parameters: TSS, nutrients, metals, salinity, & hydrocarbons

• sediments: focus on metals & PAHs

Reliance on CCME – PMAL thresholds

Marine Habitat & Biota

• Marine fish habitat: HADD approach

• Arctic char

Basis of Effects PredictionsVEC/KI Modelling

ResultsData

AnalysisLiterature

ReviewRegulatory

ProcessProfessional

Judgment

Sea Ice

Landfast Pack

Water & Sediment Quality

Water Sediment

Marine Habitat & Biota

Habitat Arctic char

Basis of Effects Predictions (cont’d)

VEC/KI Modelling Results

Data Analysis

Literature Review

Regulatory Process

Professional Judgment

Marine Mammals

Ringed seal Bearded seal

Walrus Beluga whale

Narwhal Bowhead whale

Polar bear

Interactions AssessedVEC/KI Habitat

ChangeDisturbance Masking Hearing

ImpairmentMortality

Marine Mammals

Ringed seal Bearded seal

Walrus Beluga whale

Narwhal Bowhead whale

Polar bear Sea Ice* Marine Biota

Arctic Char Habitat

Summary of Effects Predictions

• No Significant Negative Residual Effects

PLUS

• Mitigation• Monitoring• Adaptive Management

Threshold Values and Population Estimates

• “….. if there is a public benefit to frontier resource development, then there is a public obligation to ensure that research required to ensure environmental sustainability is done in an orderly fashion. It is neither reasonable nor productive to put this burden on the first proponent in an area.”