Hammond Reef Gold Mine Mitta Lake, Atikokan Environmental Assessment Review By: Jessie Jones, Bailey Young, Phillip Howe, and Blair Wasylenko Outline • Project overview • EA process • Interveners & their concerns • What we have learned Project Overview • Open pit gold mine under Mitta Lake • Estimate of 10 ½ million ounces; 50,000 tonnes/day • Mine lifespan of approx. 14 years • Comprehensive Study under CEAA July 2011 • Terms of Reference submitted • Open houses—Atikokan/Fort Frances Feb 2012 Project Location Construction Specs • 2 open pits • Waste rock stockpiles • Tailings management area and tailings pipeline • Processing plant • Explosives plant • Camps, offices, all- weather access roads • Transmission lines Comprehensive Study • Project has potential for inflicting significant environmental impacts • Falls under CEAA Comprehensive Study Regulations SOR/94-638 • Federal Responsible Authorities: Fisheries & Oceans and Natural Resources Canada “16. The proposed construction, decommissioning or abandonment of (c) a gold mine, other than a placer mine, with an ore production capacity of 600 t/d or more” Figure 1. (Hammond Reef Terms of Reference 2012) Identified Impacts of Project • Loss of Mitta Lake • Water quality & water at all stages: open pit mining, water management systems, waste management systems, main access road, electrical transmission line & ore processing • Significant changes to aquatic environment • Infringement of Aboriginal treaty rights; use of traditional lands • Sedimentation due to erosion Proposed Alternatives in Terms of Reference Report • “Do nothing” alternative to draining Mitta Lake • Recycle water or use Marmion Reservoir • Alternative waste rock locations, uses for waste rock • Construction of new offsite landfill site • Appropriate mitigation measures during deconstruction of mine Cumulative Effects • Former Steep Rock Mine is located within same watershed • Already a reservoir for water due to dam construction • Downstream flooding • Exceeding carrying capacity of Upper Marmion Lake by introducing more fish Fisheries Act - No Net Loss • Loss of Mitta, small streams and lakes will have to be compensated • If habitat is to be destroyed or altered, then habitat needs to be replaced within watershed Intervenor #1: Atikokan Sportsmen’s Conservation Club (ASCC) • Ensure healthy aquatic environment to produce sustainable fisheries resources • Defend from waste our country’s natural resources (air, water, forests & wildlife) Atikokan Sportmen’s Conservation Club • Are appropriate mitigation measures going to be upheld after project is finished? • Will local ecosystems and aquatic biota be restored successfully? Potential Impacts • Mitigation • Loss of wetlands & • Tailings management biodiversity • Water intake & discharge • Water levels • Spawning & nursery habitat • Sedimentation for fish First Nations • All First Nations signatories to Treaty #3, 1873 • Treaty area includes 26 First Nations in northwestern Ontario, 2 in Manitoba – Outlines rights to 55,000 square miles of land • Regional governing body, the “Secretariat”, composed of Chiefs from 7 First Nations First Nations • Closest to Project is Lac Des Mille Lac First Nation – Two reserves • Seine River IR #22A2 (41km) • Lac Des Mille Lacs #22A1 (70km) – 539 Registered, Only 4 residents • Next closest: • Seine River First Nation IR #23A/(77km), IR #23B/(103km) • Lac La Croix First Nation (95km) – 419 people – Only 1 reserve, Neguaguon Lake (77km) Aboriginal Consultation Proponent and, in some cases, Crown must: • Engage with Aboriginal people that may be affected by Project • Solicit Aboriginal concerns during course of EA • Ensure that Aboriginal people have access to information, and provide up-to-date information • Examine opportunities to mitigate environmental effects of project on Aboriginal groups • Describe in EIS how concerns respecting Aboriginal groups will be addressed • Provide a summary of completed, ongoing and future consultation with Aboriginal people and groups • Lac des Milles Lacs First Nation Interveners • Wabigoon Lake First Nation #2 • Fort Frances Chiefs Secretariat • Chief Earl Klyne, Seine River First Nation, Spokesperson for the Fort Frances Secretariat Aboriginal Concerns & Terms of Reference Response • Tailing ponds • Water quality • Raft River Dam • Mitta Lake reclamation • Wildlife disturbance • Aboriginal Jobs • Tourism Seine River First Nation Concerns #1 What will composition of discharge water be from tailings facility, which may reach 8500 m3/day? Will this concentration of Sulphate sulphate and other forms of sulphur sustain growth • Past issue with OMOE of wild rice? granting permission for several hundred PPM’s –Excessive levels of sulphate can cause meromictic conditions –E.g., Caland Pit Lake at former Steeprock Mine Meromictic Lake Stratified into 2 distinct, chemically different layers • Epilimnion: a normal lake with seasonal turnover – Adequate dissolved oxygen, can support aquatic biota • Hypolimnion: elevated levels of dissolved solids, resulting in increased density; no seasonal turnover – Depletion of oxygen, unsuitable for aquatic biota • Even more disturbing, Why is this a Concern? DFO made no comment on potential • Potential effects of discharge water on wild rice were not effects of effluent to mentioned in Golder document, Upper Marmion Lake in spite of concerns raised by First and rest of Seine River Nations watershed What can be done • State of Minnesota has water quality standard of 10mg/l of sulfate; acceptable amount to support production of wild rice – Adopted 1973 • Ontario is considering a sulphate standard; however current status of sulphate review is unknown Seine River First Nation Concerns #2 Water quality & sediment is being monitored only for upper Marmion Lake; testing should be conducted throughout entire Seine River watershed • Traditional ways of life will be affected by drainage from Lake Marmion, directly linked to Seine R. • Many plant species used for traditional pursuits, located at water’s edge, can be affected with even small changes in water quality • Community health related to drinking water Seine River First Nation Concerns #3 Testing of methyl mercury needs to be conducted―potential for bioaccumulation • Iron & gold mining present in Seine River watershed since 1800’s • Potential for heavy metals & sediment located near mines, especially older sites • Discharge from tailings has occurred before, creating adverse health effects Seine River First Nation Concerns # 4 Will water management from mine affect current Seine River Water Management Plan? Water levels affect wild rice production. • Agreements in place in 2004-2014 Seine River Water Management Plan with small hydro-electric operators downstream to maintain minimum flows • Sourcing of process waters unclear Indigenous knowledge: An important contribution to EA • Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK): Evolving knowledge acquired by Indigenous and local peoples over hundreds or thousands of years through direct contact with the environment • “This knowledge is specific to a location and includes the relationships between plants, animals, landscapes, including but not limited to hunting, fishing, trapping, agriculture, and forestry” (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 2011) What we learned • Many groups affected by Project • Many First Nations concerned about impacts to their rights and land use • Water quality & mitigation are major concerns .