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Joint Review Panel Established for
Environmental Assessment of
Canada�s Environment Minister Jim Prentice and
Newfoundland and Labrador�s Minister of Environment and Conservation
Charlene Johnson, along with Dave Denine, Minister of Intergovernmental
Affairs, announced today the establishment of a five-member Joint Review
Panel for the proposed Lower Churchill Hydroelectric Generation Project,
located near Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador. Minister Prentice, Minister Johnson and Minister
Denine appointed Lesley Griffiths and Herbert Clarke as panel co-chairs,
as well as Meinhard Doelle, Keith Chaulk and James Igloliorte as panel
members. Biographical information on the panel co-chairs and members is
available in the accompanying backgrounder. A Joint Panel Agreement for the environmental review
was signed by all three ministers. The agreement which is being released
today was issued for public comment before being finalized. The
agreement describes the panel�s terms of reference as well as the
process to be followed for conducting the joint panel review. Under the agreement, the Joint Review Panel will: Further details on the scope of the environmental
assessment can be found in the terms of reference contained in the
agreement. Additional information on this project, along with the
agreement, is available on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
Registry at www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca under registry number 07-05-26178, and
on the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Environment and
Conservation website at www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/ Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro proposes the
development of two hydroelectric generating stations on the Lower
Churchill River. One is a 2,000 megawatt project located at Gull Island,
which is 225 km downstream from the existing 5,428 megawatt facility at
Churchill Falls, and the other is an 800 megawatt project located at
Muskrat Falls, which is 60 km downstream of Gull Island. - 30 -
Media contacts:
BACKGROUNDER
Proposed Lower Churchill Hydroelectric Generation Project Joint Review Panel - Biographical Notes Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths is Co-principal of Griffiths Muecke, a consulting firm that provides services in the areas of consultation and consensus-building processes, environmental impact assessment, resource management and community development. Ms. Griffiths has developed and implemented information and consultation strategies for community and social planning, community economic development, resource developments and various types of waste management planning. Ms. Griffiths has substantive experience chairing environmental assessment panels in Atlantic Canada. She chaired the federal-provincial joint review panel examining the Sydney Tar Ponds remediation in Cape Breton as well as the joint review panel established for the Voisey's Bay Mine and Mill project in northern Labrador. She also served as a joint panel member for the review of the Halifax Harbour wastewater treatment facility. Ms. Griffiths co-chaired the Nova Scotia Minister of Environment and Labour's Task Force on Clean Air, producing the Province's first air quality management strategy. Until recently she was Process Lead for the Fundy Tidal Energy Strategic environmental assessment. Herbert Clarke Herbert Clarke was a former member of the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board until July 2008. He held several senior deputy minister positions in the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and senior executive positions in industry for the Voisey�s Bay Nickel Company and Fishery Products International. He was also founding Chairman of the Fisheries Resource Conservation Council. Mr. Clarke has experience as chair on boards and participated, as Public Review Commissioner for the White Rose Development Application. On behalf of Voisey's Bay Nickel Company, he participated in the negotiation of Impact and Benefit Agreements with Aboriginal peoples of the Voisey�s Bay project. Mr. Clarke is retired and holds a private consulting and investment company. Dr. Meinhard Doelle Meinhard Doelle is Associate Professor specialized in environmental law at the Dalhousie Law School. He is the Associate Director of the Marine and Environmental Law Institute and the Director of the Marine & Environmental Law Programme. From 1996 to 2001, he was the Executive Director of Clean Nova Scotia. He has been involved in the practice of environmental law in Nova Scotia since 1990 and in that capacity served as drafter of the Nova Scotia Environment Act. He is currently environmental counsel to the Atlantic Canada law firm of Stewart McKelvey. From 2000 to 2006, he was a non-governmental member of the Canadian delegation to the United Nation climate change negotiations. From January to May 2008, he was a visiting scholar at the Environmental Law Center of the IUCN in Bonn, Germany. Dr. Doelle has written on a variety of environmental law topics, including climate change, energy law, invasive species, environmental assessments and public participation in environmental decision-making. Dr. Keith Chaulk Keith Chaulk is a biologist and Director at the Labrador Institute of the Memorial University. He occupied several positions in the public sector as biologist and scientist in particular, for the Canadian Wildlife Services, the Department of Lands and Natural Resources of the Nunatsiavut Government, Environment Canada and the Labrador Inuit Association. Dr. Chaulk is a resident of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Dr. Chaulk has published many reports and did several presentations related to black bears, waterfowl and seabirds. Dr. Chaulk was appointed Fellow of the School of Graduate Studies of the Memorial University of Newfoundland and earned several awards. He is currently member of the Regional Planning Authority for the Labrador Settlement Area and the Harvest Research Steering Committee. James Igloliorte James Igloliorte is a former law magistrate and Provincial Court Judge in Labrador. He retired from Provincial Court in 2004. In 1999 he was awarded a National Aboriginal Achievement Award in the field of law. He was honorary colonel of five Wing Goose Bay for a year and has recently stepped down as Labrador Director with the Innu Healing Foundation. Mr. Igloliorte graduated from Memorial University with a bachelor's degree in science and education in 1974. In 1985 he received his bachelor of law degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax and returned to take up duties in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. He received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Memorial University at the 2002 spring convocation. 2009 01 08
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