Scoping occurs early into the EIA process, and focuses mainly on the key environmental and/or social issues that may be faced. This process focuses on finding the important issues that this project impacts, in order to establish the right mitigation designs before the project goes into full effect. Issues that were identified by the scoping phase and chosen by our group for examination include:
Certain environmental issues:
Social Issues:
Environmental Assessment would have to include:
Certain environmental issues:
- Aquatic Environment such as fish habitat, entrainment, and the accumulation of chemicals
- Terrestrial Environment effecting local animal populations and migration routes
- Abiotic Environment - effecting air quality and carbon sink disturbances releasing green house gasses (GHGs)
Social Issues:
- Aboriginal culture and heritage sites
- The use of the land and resources
- Aboriginal and local participation in the project and employment
Environmental Assessment would have to include:
- Aboriginal consultation and input regarding hunting/trapping areas, whether there should be access to project area; access to cultural heritage sites, whether these areas should be disturbed; social concerns regarding employment opportunities and accommodations - through economic data collection
- Local input - those that are impacted should have a say, taking into account media sources (what is the public saying)
- Communication between federal government, the proponent and the Aboriginal community - are important aspects of the project transparent?
- Medicinal plants, location, possible disturbance and relocation - tracking plant populations
- Tracking animal migration routes, whether project disturbs these routes
- Disturbance of animal habitats, possible relocation strategies
- Aquatic habitat disturbance - in collaboration with the DFO of Canada
- Increase in water levels and the increase in methyl mercury levels - comparing to past levels
- For air quality, will have to focus on construction, vehicles, and equipment - transportation routes
- Carbon sinks being disturbed such as in nearby waterbodies - does this effect GHG release