mary river project pre-hearing conference presentation igloolik, and pond inlet, nunavut november...

Mary River ProjectPre-Hearing Conference PresentationIgloolik, and Pond Inlet, NunavutNovember 6-7 and 9-10, 2011

Outline

1. Mandate & role

2. Technical Review Recommendations Earth sciences

3. Questions

NRCan’s Mandate

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) seeks to enhance the responsible development and use of

Canada’s natural resources and the competitiveness of Canada’s natural resources

products.

NRCan’s Role in this review

Regulatory role – Explosives Act

Earth sciences expertise: Permafrost and Geotechnical Science Coastal Geomorphology, Climate Change Geotechnical Engineering and Natural

Hazards

Technical Review Recommendations - Permafrost and Geotechnical Science

NRCan provided 12 recommendations regarding: Maintaining waste rock pile frozen conditions Modelling to ensure a permafrost barrier the

diversion berms Railway terrain analyses Environmental monitoring and management

methods for the railway corridor

Technical Review Recommendations - Coastal Geomorphology

NRCan provided 27 recommendations regarding: Coastal change due to ship wake Climate change impacts on coastal

infrastructure Slope and permafrost information for Milne

port and subsea permafrost presence at Steensby port

Shoreline change information regarding the Milne Port freight dock effects on Philips Creek spit

Technical Review Recommendations - Geotechnical Engineering and Natural Hazards

NRCan provided 7 recommendations regarding Waste rock pile – sludge volume, stability,

post-closure monitoring Railway tunnel early warning systems during

rockfall events Spill contingency plans for borrow pits

Baffinland Iron Mine Corporation (BIMC) Commitments

BIMC’s commitments (October 28, revised November 4) address 28 of NRCan’s 46 recommendations

NRCan and BIM met on Oct. 20, 2011 to discuss specific recommendations related to primarily to wake effects and sediment movement at Milne Port

NRCan Outstanding Recommendations• NRCan would like to clarify certain BIMC commitments

made during the technical meetings, e.g., • Ship wake assessment• Hydrodynamic and sediment transport models

• NRCan can continue to work with BIMC to discuss and resolve technical issues identified in commitments, e.g.: • Permafrost and the design approach for the waste rock pile• Remote sensing of bottom-fast ice• Existence of subsea permafrost• Estimates of sea level rise

Recommendations Not Fully Resolved: Wake Effects and Coastal Change

Clarification of the location of the proposed Eastern Shipping Route between Koch Island and Cape Jensen (#14).

Upon final decision on the vessels forming the ore transport fleet and the chartered freight vessels, the modelled potential wake characteristics (# 16).

NRCan’s recommendations seek an explanation why the route between Koch Island and Cape Jensen was modelled for wake effects, instead of the narrower passage to the north and why a shorter distance was not used, given that ships may travel closer to the shore.

Recommendations Not Fully Resolved: Coastal Change

Installation of permanent year-round wave gauges to measure natural and wake-influenced waves in open water and sea ice (#18).

NRCan is looking for the FEIS to describe approach to wave gauges in the Marine Mammal and Shipping Management Plan.

Consultation with NRCan experts in remote sensing

towards a determination of bottom-fast ice extents and the potential existence of subsea permafrost in Milne and Steensby Inlets (#36).

A similar commitment related to the pack ice baseline could be amended to address NRCan’s recommendation.

Unresolved Recommendations: Waste Rock Pile and Thermal Analysis

Five recommendations (#1-5) concern demonstrating that frozen conditions will be maintained within and beneath the waste rock pile: Preliminary thermal analysis Collection of site data for thermal analysis in final

design Incorporation of climate conditions, change and

variability Long-term (100+ years) prediction of frozen

conditions Development of monitoring and mitigation/

management plans, criteria for selection of mitigation measure in FEIS

Unresolved Recommendations: Waste Rock Pile and Thermal Analysis Two recommendations (#40,41) for long-term stability of

the waste rock stockpile: Volume of sludge and distribution Influence on thermal regime and stability of stockpile

adjacent to SWM pond Further discussions planned on the approach to

determining the active layer for the waste rock pile and rationale in the FEIS (in consultation with NRCan, EC and AANDC).

Commitment (#108) considered for thermal modelling as part of detailed design should be confirmed in FEIS.

Qujannamiik!