Environmental Assessment – Joint Review Panel IN THE MATTER OF FRONTIER OIL SANDS PROJECT Teck Resources Limited CEAA Reference No. 65505 SUBMISSIONS ON IMPACTS OF THE FRONTIER OIL SANDS PROJECT ON WOOD BUFFALO NATIONAL PARK Filed by: Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) CPAWS Northern Alberta Chapter P.O. Box 52031 Edmonton, AB T6G 2T5 Tel.: (780) 328-3780 Email: [email protected] PART I: INTRODUCTION The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is a nationwide charity dedicated to the protection and sustainability of Canada’s public land and water, and ensuring that parks are managed to protect the nature within them. CPAWS Northern Alberta’s role as an organization is to provide landscape-scale, science-based support and advice for the conservation and protection of Alberta’s wilderness. CPAWS Northern Alberta has championed the protection of Alberta’s diverse natural heritage since its establishment in 1968, and regularly collaborates with government, industry, and Indigenous communities on these issues. CPAWS Northern Alberta also strives to educate and bring awareness to Alberta’s residents and visitors about the importance of protecting Alberta’s wilderness. These are the submissions of CPAWS Northern Alberta ("CPAWS") to the Joint Review Panel ("JRP") in relation to the impacts of the Frontier Oil Sands Project (the "Project") on Wood Buffalo National Park ("Park" or “WBNP”). By separate filing on behalf of CPAWS, the Pacific Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation has filed evidence and submissions in relation to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the Project. In relation to the submissions and evidence contained herein regarding the impacts of the Project on the Park, CPAWS has retained Mr. Shaun Fluker and Ms. Christine Laing as legal counsel, both with the University of Calgary Public Interest Law Clinic. Their contact information is as follows: University of Calgary Public Interest Law Clinic Room 3310, Murray Fraser Hall 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 Shaun Fluker <contact information removed> Christine Laing <contact information removed> In relation to the submissions and evidence filed in relation to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the Project, CPAWS has retained the Pacific Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation Law Corporation. Their contact information is as follows: Pacific Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation Law Corporation Suite 16 Shoal Point 21 Dallas Road Victoria, BC V8V 4Z9 Chris Tollefson <contact information removed> Anthony Ho <contact information removed> We request that the JRP include and name each of these individuals as counsel for CPAWS on the contact and distribution list for the Project. Based on the submissions that follow, CPAWS submits that this Project, if approved, would significantly negatively impact the ecological integrity and outstanding universal values (OUVs) of the Park. The Park’s OUVs are the characteristics for which it was designated a World Heritage Site in 1983. In support of these submissions, CPAWS adduces two expert opinions: 1. Expert Opinion #1 of Dr. John Wilmshurst, dated August 28, 2018;1 and, 2. Expert Opinion #2 of Dr. Colleen Cassady St. Clair, dated August 29, 2018.2 In Part II, CPAWS reviews the international importance of Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada’s mandate to protect its ecological integrity, and UNESCO’s review of the Park to determine if it is a World Heritage Site in danger. In Part III, CPAWS provides an assessment of the impacts of the Project on the Park based on the evidence provided in the expert opinions of Dr. Wilmshurst and Dr. St. Clair. 1 Expert Opinion #1 of Dr. John Wilmshurst, dated August 28, 2018 (“Wilmshurst Opinion”). 2 Expert Opinion #2 of Dr. Colleen Cassady St. Clair, dated August 29, 2018 (“St. Clair Opinion”). PART II: NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF WOOD BUFFALO NATIONAL PARK History and International Importance The Park was established in 1922 by Canada as an effort to protect the habitat of Canada's remaining free-roaming bison populations, which, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, had been decimated by over hunting and habitat loss. At 44,807 square kilometres in size, the Park is the largest national park in Canada and one of the largest in the world. The Park protects many naturally important landscape features, such as the Peace-Athabasca Delta, unique salt plains, nesting grounds for American Pelicans and endangered Whooping Cranes, as well as habitat for at-risk species such as Peregrine Falcons and Wood Bison.3 The Park has been deemed irreplaceable to the global community. Canada made commitments to protect and maintain WBNP under the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage4 (the “Convention”). The Government of Canada chose to nominate WBNP for consideration as a World Heritage Site. To be accepted, a site had to meet the criteria for Outstanding Universal Value in the operational guidelines of the Convention.5 In 1983, the Park was accepted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the Convention based on three of four possible criteria for natural world heritage: 1. Criteria (vii), to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance; 2. Criteria (ix), to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals; and 3. Criteria (x), to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation. Elements of WBNP found to have Outstanding Universal Value that we discuss here are: • The Peace-Athabasca Delta, the largest inland freshwater delta in the world; • Great concentrations of migratory wildlife of worldwide importance; 3 Struzik, Ed, 1992, "The Rise and Fall of Wood Buffalo National Park," Borealis (10): 10-25 and http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn- np/nt/woodbuffalo/natcul.aspx 4 UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 16 November 1972 <http://whc.unesco.org/archive/convention-en.pdf> 5 Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention WHC.17/01 (12 July 2017), see section 77 for the current set of criteria. 4 • The last remaining breeding habitat and nesting site of the endangered Whooping Crane; • The last remaining place on earth where Wolves and Bison interact in a natural predator- prey dynamic. The Delta within the Park, and the whooping crane nesting area, have also been designated a Ramsar Site in accordance with the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as waterfowl habitat (the “Ramsar Convention”).6 The Ramsar Site designation was put in place in 1982 in recognition of the Delta being “[o]ne of the most important nesting, resting and feeding areas for numerous species in North America. Up to 400,000 birds occur during spring migration, and more than one million occur in the fall. The delta meadows provide grazing for several hundred free-roaming bison, one of 44 other mammals recorded.”7 The Park’s status as a World Heritage Site recognizes the Park’s internationally important ecological value, and is a source of pride to Canadians. However, the Park’s ecological values are being eroded by continued hydro-electric developments along the Peace River in both British Columbia and Alberta, and by oil sands activities along the Athabasca River in Alberta. There is evidence that the Delta is drying up, leading to changes in Wood Bison behaviour, impacts on fish habitat availability within the Park, and interference with local cultural practices such as fishing. The Teck Frontier Oil Sands Mine Project is an open pit oil sands mine less than the 30km from the southern border of the Park. If approved, this mine will be the largest of its kind, produce 260,000 barrels per day of bitumen for approximately 41 years, and will add 6000 hectares of tailings areas to the region.8 The Project will be the closest oil sands development of its kind to WBNP, within a watershed sub-basin that drains directly into Lake Claire from outside WBNP, and the Project will be within the remaining intact forest and ungulate habitat that is contiguous with the Park. Canada’s Management of Wood Buffalo National Park: A Legislated Mandate to Protect Ecological Integrity Canada's national parks are governed by several pieces of federal legislation, primarily the Canada National Parks Act (the “CNPA”)9 and its regulations and the Parks Canada Agency Act.10 6 UNESCO, Ramsar, Iran 2.2.1971 as amended by the Protocol of 3.12.1982 and the Amendments of 28.5.1987. 7 Ramsar Sites Information Service. Peace-Athabasca Delta. Site 241. https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/241 9 Canada National Parks Act (S.C. 2000, c.32) http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/N-14.01/ 10 Parks Canada Agency Act. http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/P-0.4/FullText.html 5 Canada's national parks are dedicated to the Canadian public in section 4(1) of the CNPA: 4 (1) The national parks of Canada are hereby dedicated to the people of Canada for their benefit, education and enjoyment, subject to this Act and the regulations, and the parks shall be maintained and made use of so as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. Section 8(2) of the CNPA further states: Ecological integrity (2) Maintenance or restoration of ecological integrity, through the protection of natural resources and natural processes, shall be the first priority of the Minister when considering all aspects of the management of parks.