The Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, has announced the following event relative to Part 10 Environmental Assessment of the Environmental Protection Act.

UNDERTAKING RELEASED:

Scully Mine Tailings Impoundment Area Expansion Project        (2158)
Proponent: Tacora Resources Inc.

The project is released subject to the following conditions:

• The proponent is required to uphold all commitments made in the environmental assessment submission to mitigate the effects of the project on the environment.
• The Pollution Prevention and the Environmental Assessment Divisions of the Department of Environment and Climate Change require the proponent to develop a Dust Mitigation and Monitoring Plan (DMMP) for the project. The DMMP shall propose monitoring of total suspended particulate and fine particulate levels at sensitive receptors including nearby communities, in addition to the existing air quality monitoring stations in and around the towns of Labrador City and Wabush. The DMMP shall identify, in consultation with the public and Indigenous Governments and Organizations, potential receptors of dust from the project, including human, plant and animal receptors, and implement and monitor measures to mitigate the effects of dust. The DMMP shall be approved by the Minister of the Department of Environment and Climate Change prior to project commencement.
• The Environmental Assessment Division of the Department of Environment and Climate Change requires the proponent to submit an Environmental Effects Monitoring Plan (EEMP) that identifies the potential effects of the project on traditional, cultural, spiritual, and recreational activities in the project area, proposed mitigations, and monitoring that will be conducted to confirm the efficacy of the mitigations or propose adaptive management. The EEMP shall demonstrate the participation of Indigenous peoples and the public in identifying potentially affected activities, mitigations and follow up monitoring and adaptive management. The EEMP for traditional, cultural, spiritual and recreational Activities shall be approved by the Minister of the Department of Environment and Climate Change prior to project commencement.

• The Environmental Assessment Division requires the proponent to establish a Stakeholder Consultation Committee to provide, at minimum, a quarterly report that identifies committee membership; location, time and date of meetings; meeting attendance; opportunities for stakeholders to action agenda items; items discussed; proposals for complaints resolution; status of complaints resolution; and the next scheduled meeting. The Stakeholder Consultation Committee must be chaired by Tacora, and the opportunity to participate on the Committee must be extended to the Towns of Labrador City and Wabush, the public, and to Indigenous Governments and Organizations. The Environmental Assessment Division must approve any proposed changes in meeting frequency.
• The Water Resources Management Division of the Department of Environment and Climate Change requires the proponent to complete a hydrogeological assessment of the project area. An initial report with currently available data must be submitted and approved by the Water Resources Management Division prior to commencing any work related to the project, with follow up reports to be submitted annually until the groundwater assessment is complete.
• The Water Resources Management Division requires the proponent to maintain a 100-metre buffer around the Wahnahnish Lake Protected Public Water Supply Area boundary, in accordance with Newfoundland and Labrador Regulation 4/13, under the Water Resources Act. The boundary is shown on the Water Resources Management portal at www.gov.nl.ca/ecc/waterres/portal/. Project activities shall not occur within the 100-metre buffer.
• The Wildlife Division of the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture (FFA) requires the following buffers around waterbodies:

• • For slopes less than 30 percent, a minimum 30-metre naturally vegetated riparian buffer zone shall be established around all waterbodies (including wetlands) from the high water mark, that are identified on either the 1:50,000 scale National Topographic System maps, or the topographic mapping layer shown in the Provincial Land Use Atlas. No land use activities involving grubbing, ground or soil disturbance, or timber harvesting activities shall take place in this zone.
  • For slopes greater than 30 percent, a naturally vegetated riparian buffer zone shall be calculated using the following formula: 30 metres + 1.5 metres x slope (per cent).  No land use activities involving grubbing, ground or soil disturbance, or timber harvesting activities shall take place in this zone.

• The Wildlife Division requires the proponent to provide information on proposed detector locations and installation periods for the bat-monitoring program, for its review and determination of ideal locations and time periods for deployment.
• The Wildlife Division notes the proponent’s commitment in the registration document to conduct surveys and compile survey reports for rare flora and fauna and other vegetation including wetlands, fish and fish habitat, avifauna including bats and raptors, and amphibians. The Wildlife Division requires the proponent to provide the reports of all surveys and studies indicated in the Registration document, for its review, and requests that the digital location data collected for all species be made available to the Wildlife Division for inclusion in the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Center database and for research and management purposes. Authorities will review the survey reports for adequacy of information, and mitigation measures may be required in collaboration with the authorities.

• The proponent is required to advise the Environmental Assessment Division when the conditions of release have been met, by emailing a written description, documents, and images (where applicable) to demonstrate that the conditions have been fulfilled.

• The proponent is required to update the Environmental Assessment Division on the status of the project, including a copy of all permits, licences, certificates, approvals and other authorizations required for your project, one year from the date of this release letter and to provide additional updates if requested.

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Learn more
Environmental Assessment Division
Department of Environment and Climate Change
West Block, Confederation Building
P.O. Box 8700, St. John’s, NL A1B 4J6

Public comments may be forwarded to: EAProjectComments@gov.nl.ca

Environmental assessment information is available at:

www.gov.nl.ca/ecc/env-assessment/

www.gov.nl.ca/ecc/files/GUIDE-TO-THE-PROCESS_Dec2021

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If you submit comments on a project that is under environmental assessment, please advise the Department if you DO NOT wish to share your comments with the project proponent.

Media contact
Lynn Robinson
Environment and Climate Change
709-729-5449; 691-9466
lynnrobinson@gov.nl.ca