Hello All Friends of Friends of the Nemaiah Valley;
Today the federal review Panel of the Canadian Environmental Assessment
Agency (CEAA) made their long, and anxiously awaited, recommendations to the
federal government re Taseko Mines proposed open pit gold and copper mine:
the mine that would destroy Fish Lake/Teztan Biny.
We are very pleased to say that the Panel made the best decision we could
have hoped for!
Here is an excerpt from the Summary Review (available here:
http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/documents/43937/43937E.pdf <http://sms.vsip.ca/mailings/68/27d0fca2820c99d5814fa8c6a1f1717b_4c2e64906aa
15?link=1>
)
"The Panel concludes that the Project would result in significant adverse
environmental effects on fish and fish habitat, on navigation, on the
current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes by First Nations
and on cultural heritage, and on certain potential or established Aboriginal
rights or title.
The Panel also concludes that the Project, in combination with past, present
and reasonably foreseeable future projects would result in a significant
adverse cumulative effect on grizzly bears in the South Chilcotin region and
on fish and fish habitat."
The Panel notes that Taseko's proposed "replacement" lake would not meet
DFO's "No Net Loss" policy and that Taseko could not provide assurances that
the fish in such a lake would be safe to consume.
The Panel cites the effects on navigation would be "high magnitude and
irreversible" as presented by Transport Canada's submission.
The Panel places significant and detailed emphasis on the presentations and
teachings from the First Nations witnesses who appeared before them, saying
their "overall conclusion is that the Project would have a high magnitude,
long term, irreversible effect on the Tsilqhot'in". They also note that,
"the effects of the Project on the potential Tsilhqot'in title would be
significant as the value of the claim would be reduced substantially due to
changes in the landscape and the loss of the area for current use for
traditional purposes".
In regard to grizzlies, the Panel says that Taseko's proposal to mitigate
the effects of increased traffic (through speed limits, etc.) are not
sufficient to compensate for loss of habitat or landscape fragmentation.
Reference to negative impacts on local use of meadows and trap lines is also
included.
FONV would like to congratulate everyone who wrote letters to the panel and
who appeared before them. For many, this was a difficult and upsetting
process to go through and it was done with great dignity and integrity.
Thanks to you all.
Now, it's up to the federal government to decide how they will proceed.
Pat Swift
www.fonv.ca