News Release 24 September 1999

FOR RELEASE AT 1:00 PM

CHEVIOT REVIEW PANEL ISSUES REPORT FROM PREHEARING MEETING

Calgary, Alberta (24 September 1999) The Joint Review Panel of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) today issued a report concerning the 9 September 1999 Cheviot Coal Mine Project prehearing meeting. The meeting was held to hear viewpoints and decide issues that would help organize the later hearing, now scheduled to reconvene in Hinton, Alberta, on or about 21 February 2000.

Following a joint EUB/CEAA hearing in 1997 and the issuance of approvals by the EUB and the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, a decision by the Federal Court Trial Division on 8 April 1999 rescinded the federal authorization. In response, CEAA requested the Joint Review Panel to reconvene and address the issues identified by the court's decision.

To promote communication and provide all parties an opportunity to present their views, the Panel decided to hold a prehearing meeting. Participants provided comments to the Panel about hearing scope, date and location, time lines for submissions, and other procedural matters associated with reconvening the hearing. The Panel carefully considered the views expressed and reached a number of decisions. These include:

• The scope of the reconvened hearing must take its primary direction from the four items deemed to be deficient by the Federal Court *. However, the Panel notes that it does not believe it is in any way limited from addressing other issues that it finds relevant to its review.
• * The four items noted by the Federal Court were:
  • information about likely forestry activity in the vicinity of the Project and the cumulative effects of such activity;
  • information about likely mining in the vicinity of the Project and the cumulative effects of such activity;
  • information regarding a comparative analysis between open pit mining and underground mining at the Project site including the comparative technical and economical feasibility and comparative environmental effects of each; and
  • two documents previously submitted by the Canadian Nature Federation.
• While the Panel is of the opinion that the majority of the reconvened hearing should continue to be held in Hinton, it is prepared to sit in another location. Given the relation of Jasper Park to the proposed mine, the Town of Jasper may present an appropriate venue. The Panel has directed its staff to investigate this option in consultation with hearing participants.

• The Panel has established a public registry in Hinton where materials related to the project review are available to all interested parties. For the convenience of some hearing participants, an identical public registry has also been established at the offices of the Natural Resources Conservation Board in Edmonton.
• The applicant, Cardinal River Coals Limited (CRC), is expected to file its two main submissions on or before 15 October and 15 November 1999. Six weeks will be set aside for government review of the submissions, and an additional four weeks for public review of both the company's and government response submissions.

The Panel will be retaining independent expert consultants to advise it in the areas of mining, forestry, and cumulative effects. These consultants will review information supplied by CRC and advise the Panel as to the acceptability of the information. The Panel will also continue to explore the need to retain expert advice in other areas as well.

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This news release and Memorandum of Decision 99-09-23 are available on the EUB web site at http://www.ercb.ca

For more information, please contact:

NR99-15