00001 NUNAVUT IMPACT REVIEW BOARD TECHNICAL MEETING FOR THE MEADOWBANK GOLD PROJECT JUNE 2, 2005 VOLUME 1 LOCATION: BAKER LAKE RECREATION CENTRE BAKER LAKE, NUNAVUT DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590 00002 1 (HEARING COMMENCED AT 9:10 A.M., JUNE 2, 2005) 2 BILL TILLEMAN: So to begin that, Jacob. 3 After the opening prayer, what we will have to do is 4 remain standing for a moment of silence. For those of 5 us know, we lost a very close friend, and he was the 6 chairman of the Water Board from its inception, he moved 7 for it from its inception for his whole life. He was a 8 champion of land claims. He had worked with a smile on 9 his face and a dedication that was every day for the job 10 that he did. He is deeply missed by all of us. And on 11 behalf of the Nunavut Impact Review Board, we are here 12 with mixed emotions this week, and we would like to 13 begin this meeting in memory of our dear friend Thomas 14 Kudloo. 15 So Jacob, if we could stand and offer opening 16 prayer. 17 (Opening prayer) 18 BILL TILLEMAN: Thank you very much. Now 19 we welcome the Mayor, David Oksana, from Baker Lake. 20 And, sir, would you like to say a few words? 21 MAYOR OKSANA: Okay. First of all, 22 welcome to Baker Lake everybody. I have seen a lot of 23 you, I recognize quite a few of them, and I like to 24 thank for the person that remembered Tom Kudloo, because 25 we all missed him. 26 And I know in the -- you know, in the few days that DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590 00003 1 you are going to be working on this technical thing 2 here, it is going to be a lot of work, and if you guys 3 ever need assistance, the staff down there is available 4 anytime. And if you guys need photocopies or anything, 5 just ask the staff downstairs, and they will make sure 6 they get some stuff ready for you guys. 7 So welcome to Baker Lake. 8 BILL TILLEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 9 Well, as the Mayor indicated, this is a technical 10 meeting held with the assistance of the Nunavut Impact 11 Review Board. 12 It is certainly our pleasure to be back here in 13 Baker Lake, and it is our pleasure to be here with the 14 proponent and the parties with an interest to resolving 15 some of the technical issues before we get to the 16 prehearing conference that begins in three communities 17 next week. 18 What I will do is read out the agenda in the event 19 that some of you don't have it, and then I will talk in 20 just a moment about some of the changes to the agenda. 21 In just a moment we will have the participants go 22 around the table, and we acknowledge those from the 23 community and others who are in the audience. 24 We will have a very brief presentation following 25 that of Cumberland, ask Mr. Goodings, or whoever he 26 would like, to discuss what they intend to do by way of DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590 00004 1 their introductory presentation, and then we will have 2 an open discussion facilitated by the Board on the 3 impact assessment categories that has slightly been 4 revised in discussion with Cumberland today and last 5 night. And I will talk about that or maybe have 6 Cumberland lead that in at that point in time. 7 We will be filing, or Cumberland has offered to 8 file slide shows on the public registry, so that will 9 happen. 10 And during the slide presentations, I don't know 11 how long they are, but if the wish of the participants 12 is to stop at each slide and ask questions, as opposed 13 to go through them and take notes, then we will probably 14 deal with it at that point. But I think if you have a 15 question and you are afraid if it will get lost, if you 16 don't ask it, then you probably should ask it at that 17 time. 18 You will also notice that -- or you may not notice, 19 but for the introductory part and for the conclusion of 20 these technical meetings, we have a court reporter, and 21 so we will keep her active until we begin the part where 22 the discussion happens on these impact assessment 23 categories , and then, with thanks, we will dismiss her 24 until the very end of the meeting. And so she will come 25 back sometime tomorrow afternoon, whenever we call her 26 back, and at that point we will begin the record again DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590 00005 1 so that we can have, for all of our benefit, an 2 understanding of what commitments are being made and 3 time lines, and so on and so forth. 4 Now, before we begin, are there any questions of a 5 procedural nature that we can help you? 6 So we are here today and tomorrow, I guess as long 7 as we need it, or the expectation is 9 until 5. If we 8 need to go in the evenings, then we can do that. 9 It might be, often as a consequence of these 10 meetings, that some of the parties or part of the 11 parties want to meet during the day on their own, and 12 that's fine too. We have asked about little rooms where 13 you can have break-out sessions and meet on your own. 14 So if you want do that and if that becomes necessary, we 15 have arranged for that. 16 We are inviting everybody back, of course, for the 17 prehearing conference, which is going to be here in 18 Baker Lake Monday and Tuesday, and then Chesterfield and 19 Rankin on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. 20 So with that in mind, let's go around the table, 21 and we will introduce everyone here. And likely there 22 will be a pass-around sheet as well. 23 There is a registry at the front, so please make 24 sure that you sign your name to that. As well as a 25 photo release, in case photos are taken. That may have 26 legal consequences, and I don't know what they are, so DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590 00006 1 ask your lawyer if you have any questions. 2 Now, I have been asked, and I'm very pleased and 3 happy to be here with the Nunavut Impact Review Board. 4 My name is Bill Tilleman. And Stephanie Briscoe, who is 5 the executive director, asked me to conduct this 6 meeting, so that's why I am here. And I will just turn 7 the mic over to her, and then we will just go around, 8 and please have everyone introduce yourselves. 9 MS. BRISCOE: Hi, good morning, Stephanie 10 Briscoe, Executive Director with the board. 11 We will start here to my left and work our way 12 around the table. 13 MIKE SETTERINGTON: Mike Setterington, 14 Ecosystems Biologist, Government of Nunavut. 15 MIKE ATKINSON: Mike Atkinson, Department 16 of Environment, Government of Nunavut. 17 DERRICK MOGGY: Derrick Moggy, Habitat 18 Management Biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 19 COLETTE SPAGNUOLO: Colette Spagnuolo, 20 Environmental Assessment and Contaminated Site 21 Specialist with Environment Canada. 22 CRAIG GOODINGS: Craig Goodings, Cumberland 23 Resources. I'm the Environmental Manager. 24 JOHN DONIHEE: John Donihee, counsel to 25 Cumberland Resources. 26 JIM KOSKI: Jim Koski, Construction DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590 00007 1 Manager, Cumberland Resources. 2 BRAD THIELE: Brad Thiele, Vice-president 3 of Meadowbank Development, Cumberland Resources. 4 RAJ ANAND: Raj Anand, Senior civil 5 engineer, Cumberland Resources. 6 MARTIN GEBAUER: Martin Gebauer, I'm working 7 on the terrestrial ecology side, wildlife and vegetation 8 for Cumberland for the last four years. 9 RANDY BAKER: Randy Baker, working on the 10 aquatic ecology issues, water issues, sedimentary, 11 monitoring levels, biota and fish. 12 SUSAN ROSS: Susan Ross working on the 13 socio economic components. 14 VALERIE BERTRAND: Valerie Bertrand working on 15 the geochemistry. I have been involved with the 16 Meadowbank site since 2000. 17 DON CHARLIE: Don Charlie. I'm dealing 18 with the physical hydrogeology for the Cumberland 19 project. 20 JOHN CUNNING: I'm John Cunning, 21 Geotechnical Engineer with Golder Associates dealing 22 with the mining waste management and permafrost issues. 23 JOHN PALCZYNSKI: John Palczynski working on 24 the air pollution and noise pollution. 25 DAVID NINGEONGAN: David Ningeongan, Land 26 Management Officer for Kivalliq Inuit Association. DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590 00008 1 KIMBERLEY GILSON: Kimberley Gilson, counsel 2 to Kivalliq Inuit Association. 3 JEANNIE EHALOAK: Jeannie Ehaloak, 4 Environmental Coordinator for NTI. 5 JOE CAMPBELL: Joe Campbell, consultant to 6 NTI and KIA. 7 LUIS MANZO: Luis Manzo, Director of 8 Lands of Kivalliq Inuit Association. 9 ERIC FIER: Eric Fier, consultant with 10 EBA Engineering here representing INAC. 11 MARK WATSON: Mark Watson, consultant for 12 EBA Engineering, technical engineer. I represent INAC. 13 ROBYN ABERNETHY-GILLIS: Robyn Abernethy-Gillis, 14 Indian and Northern Affairs. I'm an environmental 15 specialist. 16 MIKE HINE: Mike Hine, Indian and 17 Northern Affairs. I'm doing some of the socio-ec stuff. 18 NORM CAVANAGH: Norm Cavanagh, Justice 19 Canada providing advisory services with DIAND. 20 CARL McLEAN: Carl McLean, Director of 21 Operations acting for Indian and Northern Affairs 22 Canada. 23 I just want to add that we, in the back, we also 24 have Stephanie Hawkins from our water resources section 25 and Julian Lim from our environment section. 26 And checking us into our accommodations is Alison DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590 00009 1 Cormier, administration, and Charles Drouin, 2 communications, who are also part of our team this week. 3 RAMLI HALIM: Ramli Halim, I'm a senior 4 geotechnical engineer working for Acres International 5 and working, at the moment, as a consultant for the 6 Nunavut Impact Review Board. 7 ALEXANDRE DESBARATS: Alexandre Desbarats, 8 research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada 9 and representing Natural Resources Canada. 10 CAROLANNE INGLIS: Carolanne Inglis, part of 11 the NIRB technical team. 12 STEPHEN LINES: Steve Lines with NIRB, 13 technical advisor. 14 KARLETTE TUNALEY: Karlette Tunaley, NIRB 15 technical advisor. 16 BILL TILLEMAN: And so if there is anyone 17 else in the audience that would like to introduce 18 themselves. We have heard from some of you, and we know 19 who the mayor is. You are free to come up to the 20 microphone, if you would like to, and introduce 21 yourself. 22 WAYNE SAVIGNY: Thank you. My name is 23 Wayne Savigny, I'm with BGC Engineering, and I work with 24 the Cumberland team. 25 STEPHEN HARTMAN: Thank you. My name is 26 Steve Hartman, I'm with KIA. DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590 00010 1 BILL TILLEMAN: Thank you, Steve. 2 JOE KALUDJAK: Joe Kaludjak, KIA director 3 for Baker Lake. 4 TARA FESYK: Tara Fesyk. I'm the 5 economic development officer at the hamlet. 6 BILL TILLEMAN: Thank you, Tara. 7 And we have Gladys, we can barely see her, Gladys 8 Joudry. 9 Mr. Goodings? 10 CRAIG GOODINGS: Yeah, I have staff. We can 11 start with Tom, please? Tom Mannik. Please introduce 12 yourself, Tom, and say what you did for the project. 13 TOM MANNIK: My name is Tom Mannik. I 14 do wildlife surveys for Cumberland Resources, including 15 environmental. 16 HATTIE MANNIK: My name is Hattie Mannik, 17 I'm the traditional knowledge specialist working for 18 Cumberland Resources under environmental. 19 CRAIG GOODINGS: Victor? 20 VICTOR UTATNAQ: My name is Victor Utatnaq. 21 I work with Tom Mannik and Jacob with Goodings 22 Environmental. 23 CRAIG GOODINGS: That's it for my guys. 24 BILL TILLEMAN: So thank you very much. 25 We want to -- you have just heard from Ramli Halim, 26 and he is working as an independent consultant to the DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590 00011 1 Board, and anything that he does for the Board will be 2 put on the public registry for everyone to look at and 3 have access to. 4 Now, with that, having gone through the 5 introduction, what I would like to do then is, as I 6 understand, Mr. Goodings, we will give you an 7 opportunity to give a brief introduction on whatever you 8 want to say, and then as I understand after that, there 9 is a slide show which will go through category by 10 category; is that correct? 11 CRAIG GOODINGS: That's correct, yes. 12 BILL TILLEMAN: Let's carry on, then, and 13 we will do your introduction, and we will go from there 14 when that's done. 15 CRAIG GOODINGS: As I said, I'm Craig, I'm 16 from Cumberland Resources. I want to tell you I am a 17 very happy guy today. 18 I have been working on this project for about ten 19 years in the environmental program, and I am excited to 20 see us at this stage where we finally get down to 21 looking at the nuts and bolts of this project. 22 And I want to first say, as well, that I am really 23 appreciative of all the work that all the intervenors 24 did. We went through all the reports. To me, it seems 25 like you guys did a really excellent job in going 26 through and picking out the little bits that were sort DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590 00012 1 of left with strings unattached. We have mostly answers 2 for you today, so I want to say thank you to everybody 3 for taking the time to read the documents and going 4 through them and making comments. 5 I think that we are trying to build a mine up here, 6 we are trying to do -- which will have negative impacts 7 if we are not careful, so the more eyes that look at 8 this stuff, the better the project will be and the more 9 positives the positives will be and the less negatives 10 the negatives will be. So I want to say thanks again 11 for all your time and effort into making this a better 12 project. 13 With the way I have structured today, I know we had 14 an agenda, we were supposed to go through the various 15 reports, but I thought to make the meeting flow and also 16 to get the information across to the engineers and the 17 various other intervenors that are here today, I've 18 decided I wanted to structure the meeting by vector, so 19 the VECs as they go through. 20 So in the first case today we hope to deal with the 21 engineering vector, so that would include permafrost, 22 groundwater, surface water and air and noise. And we 23 have all the engineers here that presented that data, 24 and their presentations are very long and detailed. 25 The presentations are detailed, and I hope that the 26 information they present to you today will answer most, DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590 00013 1 if not all the questions that you guys had in your 2 intervenor comments. 3 And then tomorrow it is going to take us quite a 4 while to get through the engineering comments, so 5 tomorrow we will start with the softer science, that 6 will be the aquatics, the wildlife and the socio-ec and 7 then the miscellaneous questions on the cumulative 8 effects, and then we will deal with the road at the very 9 last, because there was some issue about the road and 10 how we are supposed to deal with that. 11 But the road will be dealt with in the 12 conversations as well with the various impacts. 13 So having said that, I would like to kick off the 14 meeting, if that's okay with you. 15 BILL TILLEMAN: And so now, as I understand 16 then, we will go slide by slide into the order that your 17 consultants are prepared to discuss it, and we will have 18 detailed on the slide-by-slide basis, if necessary, 19 questions. So now it is the opportunity for everyone 20 around the table to ensure that if you have doubts, 21 questions or unresolved issues regarding these things, 22 now is the time to jump right in and make sure that your 23 questions are heard. 24 So, Tara, what we will do, if it is okay with you 25 now, we will ask you to stay if you wish or enjoy Baker 26 Lake, but turn off your recorder. DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590 00014 1 -------------------------------------------------------- 2 WHICH WAS ALL THE PROCEEDINGS RECORDED AT 9:30 A.M., 3 JUNE 2, 2005 4 -------------------------------------------------------- 5 6 CERTIFICATE OF TRANSCRIPT 7 I, TARA LUTZ, hereby certify that the 8 foregoing pages are a true and faithful transcript 9 of the proceedings taken down by me in shorthand and 10 transcribed from my shorthand notes to the best of my 11 skill and ability. 12 Dated at the Hamlet of Baker Lake, Territory 13 of Nunavut, this 3rd day of June, A.D. 2005. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Tara Lutz, 22 Court Reporter 23 24 25 26 DICTA COURT REPORTING 403-531-0590