ARCHIVED – Meeting Summary – 7 December 2010 – Ingamo Hall Friendship Center, Inuvik, NT
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Arctic Offshore Drilling Review
Meeting Summary
Date | Location |
---|---|
Tuesday 7 December 2010 10:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. |
Ingamo Hall Friendship Center Inuvik, NT |
Purpose: Introduce the Arctic Offshore Drilling Review to the Inuvialuit Game Council
Participants | |
---|---|
Frank Pokiak Lawrence Ruben John Alikamik Jimmy Kalinek Stan Ruben William Storr Lawrence Amos John Lucas Jr. Douglas Esogak Jennifer Lam Richard Binder Shawna Kaglik Steve Baryluk |
|
Gaétan Caron | Chair and Chief Executive Officer, NEB |
David Hamilton | Member, NEB |
Shirley Dawe | Assistant Project Manager, Arctic Offshore Drilling Review, NEB |
Brian Chambers | Northern Advisor, NEB |
Bharat Dixit | Technical Leader, Conservation of Resources, NEB |
Pamela Romanchuk | Environmental Specialist, NEB |
Susan Gudgeon | Northern Coordinator, Arctic Offshore Drilling Review, NEB |
Introductory Remarks (NEB):
- An overview of the Arctic Offshore Drilling Review was provided, including the mandate of the NEB, the events leading up to the Review and the various phases of the Review.
- The IGC was asked "what questions do you need answers to prior to the NEB considering an application for offshore drilling?"
Dialogue with IGC members:
In response to the question put forward, a number of areas of interest and concern were raised by IGC members, including:
- Clarity of Mandate and Authority of the NEB with respect to offshore drilling:
- The NEB's authority is in relation to Crown and/or private lands
- The independence of the NEB
- Community Meetings:
- Information must be clear and understandable
- Some further education needs to be done in the area of development rights as well as the separation between industry and the NEB – IRC/IGC/NEB to provide this education
- Emergency Response and Preparedness:
- Given the environment and weather changes, there is not enough capacity nor accessibility to equipment to deal with any mishaps
- No spill response training has been put in place for people if the NEB gets an application for drilling in 2012
- It may be the cost of doing business to have two drill ships
- With respect to Devon, there had been miscommunication between the NEB and the Inuvialuit
- There is overall concern with the lack of capacity to deal with an accident
- General:
- If companies are allowed to drill with certain restrictions, people need to know if changes are made to those restrictions
- Information and predictions submitted by companies must be verified to be accurate
- If dispersants are to be used, there will need to be more studies done
- Why do more exploration if there are already SDLs in place for shallower waters – if something happens it will be tougher to deal with in deeper waters
- With the technology available, support vessels should be able to get through the Northwest Passage – this should be tested, including ship hull thickness
- Having someone in the community to answer questions would be helpful
- How will future development be different than what has happened in the past?
- Industry does have rights to develop but has to be done safely
- Any spill or loss of animals is not acceptable regardless of the proposed mitigation
- Unique Arctic Environment:
- What the worst case scenario would look like in the Arctic needs to be determined as it will look different than what happened in the Gulf
- People are concerned with the number of unknowns in the Arctic
- If there is a spill everything will be affected (polar bears, whales, fish, birds)
- More studies are needed on the types of bacteria that exists in the Arctic waters – this may be part of the BREA studies
- Climate change is making conditions more difficult to predict and work with
- Value of Resources:
- Inuvialuit people will be forced to live with any consequences (animals harmed) and have certain responsibilities that go way beyond individual concerns
- Cannot let development occur at all costs – safety needs to be looked at and and development must be done right
Concluding Remarks:
- IGC stated that they are not opposed to development but it cannot occur at all costs – things need to be done safely and done right
- NEB will be back to Inuvik as well as the other ISR communities to listen to people and the Review will take the time it takes to get it right
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