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The company is committed to developing the Voisey's Bay project in a responsible way and fully recognizes that extraordinary care must go into avoiding unnecessary disturbance of the natural environment. The Voisey's Bay project was the first major mining project in Canada to go through the complex environmental assessment process outlined under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (1995).
In developing the project in an environmentally sound way, VBNC works with its partners on a day-to-day basis, particularly with Innu Nation and Labrador Inuit Association (LIA), whose traditional knowledge of the land was included in the original assessment of the site. An Environmental Management Board is in place and includes representatives from the federal and provincial governments as well as Innu Nation and LIA. Environmental monitors from LIA and Innu Nation play an important role in the daily monitoring of activities at the construction site. Main monitoring concerns include sediment control during stream crossings, handling of fuel and other petroleum products, land clearing and timber management and waste handling practices.
To ensure our monitoring activities remain effective, it’s essential that cooperative efforts between stakeholders continue. We are fostering a workplace where environmental protection is not an extra but an accepted part of each workday.
Maintaining open communications with the communities affected by the Voisey's Bay project continues to be a standing practice for VBNC. In 2003, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador's Minister of Environment requested that a Community Liaison Committee be established as a condition of releasing the Argentia hydromet demonstration plant from further environmental assessment. We have been working with local stakeholders from the Argentia area, including representatives from the municipalities and community organizations as well as various federal and provincial government departments. This committee has begun to meet regularly and it has become a forum for the discussion of concerns and issues of interest to the residents of the area that relate to the development of VBNC's hydromet demonstration plant.
For detail on our environmental performance at Voisey's Bay, see the Inco Environmental, Health and Safety Report and the Voisey’s Bay Environmental Progress Report.
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