Comprehensive Study Report for the Proposed Midwest Mining and Milling Project in Northern Saskatchewan, AREVA Resources Canada Incorporated
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Comprehensive Study Report for the Proposed Midwest Mining and Milling Project in Northern Saskatchewan, AREVA Resources Canada Incorporated Prepared by: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Transport Canada (TC) Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment (SMOE) APRIL 2012 CEAR: 06-03-17519 e-DOC: 3881017 (WORD) e-DOC: 3892304 (PDF) e-DOC: 3881017 (WORD) e-DOC: 3892304 (PDF) Comprehensive Study Report for the Midwest Mining and Milling Project in Northern Saskatchewan, AREVA Resources Canada Incorporated EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background This Comprehensive Study Report (CSR) has been collaboratively prepared as a common basis for a provincial environmental assessment (EA) under the Saskatchewan Environmental Assessment Act (SEAA) and the federal Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEA Act). Under the Canada-Saskatchewan Agreement on Environmental Assessment Cooperation, the federal and provincial EA process was coordinated for the proposal by AREVA Resources Canada Incorporated (AREVA) for the proposed Midwest Mining and Milling Project (the Midwest Project). AREVA is the majority owner and operator of the Midwest Project and the McClean Lake Operation. The McClean Lake Operation is a CNSC licensed uranium mine and mill facility located approximately 15 kilometres (km) east of the Midwest Project. Both the Midwest Project and McClean Lake Operation lie in the eastern margin of the Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan. AREVA is proposing to extend the mining and milling activities at the McClean Lake Operation to include mining uranium ore at the Midwest site by open pit mining methods; hauling ore along a road linking the Midwest site with the existing McClean Lake Operation; and milling the uranium ore at the JEB Mill located at the McClean Lake Operation. The Midwest Project would be operated as part of the McClean Lake Operation with the mining activities integrated into the McClean Lake Operation. The Midwest Project is proposed to extract and process approximately 985,000 tonnes of ore averaging 1.7% uranium (U) for a total resource of approximately 16,500 tonnes U metal (approximately 42 million pounds (lbs) uranium oxide (U3O8) equivalent). The development of the Midwest pit, including mining, is expected to take approximately five years, with ore initially accessed after two years. The Midwest ore is expected to be milled in the following five to seven years. Decommissioning of the Midwest site is expected to last two years, followed by five years of post-decommissioning monitoring. The proposed Midwest Project components include: development of the Midwest ore body as an open pit mine dewatering and depositing of material in the Mink Arm portion of South McMahon Lake to access the ore construction of site infrastructure and mine waste management facilities construction of a mine water treatment plant at the Midwest site, which will include a reverse osmosis (RO) treatment process construction of a 17 km transportation and utility corridor linking the Midwest site with the existing McClean Lake Operation development of a pipeline along the transportation corridor to transport waste water from the Midwest site to the McClean Lake Operation for release to the Sink Vulture Treated Effluent Management System (S/V TEMS) e-DOC: 3881017 (WORD) - I - APRIL 2012 e-DOC: 3892304 (PDF) CEAR: 06-03-17519 Comprehensive Study Report for the Midwest Mining and Milling Project in Northern Saskatchewan, AREVA Resources Canada Incorporated increasing production capacity at the JEB Mill from the currently approved 24 million lbs U3O8 equivalent per year to 27 million lbs U3O8 equivalent per year managing the corresponding tailings at the JEB Tailings Management Facility (TMF) development and implementation of a Fish Habitat Compensation Plan (FHCP) Federal Regulatory Responsibilities This CSR has been prepared by the CNSC, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Transport Canada (TC) and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) as Responsible Authorities (RAs) and in consultation with Environment Canada (EC) and Health Canada (HC) as federal authorities (FAs) having specialist and expert information or knowledge needed to conduct the EA. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) participated in this EA by assisting CNSC and the CEA Agency identify Aboriginal communities and organizations that might have an interest in the Midwest Project. CNSC, DFO, TC and NRCan, as RAs, have determined that each would have a regulatory decision to take with respect to the Midwest Project as described: CNSC has determined that the proposed Midwest Project may require an amendment to the existing Uranium Mine Operating Licence under subsection 24(2) of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act (NSCA) DFO has determined that the proposed Midwest Project may cause the harmful alteration, disruption, or destruction (HADD) of fish habitat, and will therefore require an Authorization under subsection 35(2) of the Fisheries Act and a section 32 Authorization under the Fisheries Act for the destruction of fish by any means other than fishing TC may issue a Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA) Approval under section 5(3) of the NWPA which allows for the interference to navigation NRCan may issue a factory licence pursuant to paragraph 7(1)(a) of the Explosives Act based on the need for an explosives factory and magazine facility during the construction and operation of the Midwest Project These decisions, which would enable the Midwest Project to proceed, trigger the requirement for an EA in accordance with the CEA Act. An exemption from the Governor in Council under section 23 and approvals under sections 6(4) and 10(2) of the NWPA will also be required to enable the Midwest Project to proceed as proposed. As the Midwest Project is described under paragraph 19(a) of the Schedule to the Comprehensive Study List Regulations under the CEA Act, a comprehensive study is required. This CSR was prepared by the CNSC in consultation with DFO, TC, NRCan, EC, HC and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment (SMOE) following a technical review of AREVA’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) report and additional information provided to the regulators by AREVA as requested. e-DOC: 3881017 (WORD) - II - APRIL 2012 e-DOC: 3892304 (PDF) CEAR: 06-03-17519 Comprehensive Study Report for the Midwest Mining and Milling Project in Northern Saskatchewan, AREVA Resources Canada Incorporated Scope of the Proposed Project The federal scope of the proposed Midwest Project (also referred to as the Project) considered within this CSR includes the construction, operation, and decommissioning of all proposed Project components previously described. The scope of the Midwest Project was approved by the federal Minister of the Environment, in consultation with the President of the CNSC. Scope of the Assessment The assessment under CEA Act considered the potential environmental effects of the Midwest Project, including the atmospheric, geological/hydrogeological, aquatic, terrestrial, human and socio-economic environments, taking into account measures that are technically and economically feasible to prevent or reduce any potential adverse effects of the Project. The scope of assessment also includes a consideration of: alternatives to the Project; alternative means of carrying out the Project; the effects of the environment on the Project; environmental effects related to malfunctions and accidents; potential cumulative environmental effects; measures that would mitigate adverse environmental effects; the significance of the environmental effects; the capacity of renewable resources likely to be affected by the Project; and a monitoring and follow-up program. Potential Effects of the Project on the Environment The RAs assessed the potential impacts that the Midwest Project is likely to have on the environment, based on information provided by AREVA in their EIS and supplemental filings, expert advice provided by the FAs, and discussions with the provincial government through the cooperative review. Aboriginal communities and organizations and public comments were also considered in the EA. The environmental effects which were determined to result in residual effects, which are effects that remain after mitigation has been put into place, were: changes to air quality from air emissions and dust deposition changes to groundwater levels changes to groundwater and surface water quality from the long-term release of contaminants of concern (COCs) related to tailings and waste rock disposal permanent loss of fish habitat from the Mink Arm portion of South McMahon Lake potential aquatic and terrestrial habitat disturbance altered movement and behaviour of wildlife from sensory disturbance changes to surface water quality and sediment quality with aquatic and terrestrial valued ecosystem components (VECs) and human receptors interaction of COCs in air, water, and sediment with aquatic and terrestrial VECs and human receptors e-DOC: 3881017 (WORD) - III - APRIL 2012 e-DOC: 3892304 (PDF) CEAR: 06-03-17519 Comprehensive Study Report for the Midwest Mining and Milling Project in Northern Saskatchewan, AREVA Resources Canada Incorporated Although the Midwest Project will interact with the environment and human components in various ways, through the implementation of mitigation measures, none of the residual effects are considered to be significant. The proposed Midwest Project will result in the HADD of fish habitat