Independent review of coal mine called for in light of 'broken' process

Brad Bird, Oceanside Star, July 14, 2011

Local environmentalists are critical of the provincial Environmental Assessment Office, which is one of the bodies looking at approving the Raven coal mine proposed for Buckley Bay.

"The Environmental Assessment Office is broken and toothless," said Annette Tanner of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. "That's the whole problem."

John Snyder of CoalWatch Comox Valley agreed: "It's one more reason the environmental assessment of the proposed Raven Coal Mine project needs to be referred to an independent review panel with public hearings, the most rigorous review available."

Auditor General John Doyle recently dissected the EAO and found it lacking. Tanner and Snyder said they support Doyle's report.

An Audit of the Environmental Assessment Office's Oversight
of Certified Projects, John Doyle, Auditor General, June 2011

Tanner said people move to the eastern side of Vancouver Island and see a "beauty strip" of land - but it isn't well protected since most of it is private, not Crown land, she said, and not well looked after by the EAO.

Big projects like mines are subject to environmental assessments. An assessment weighs not only the potential environmental effects of the project but also its potential economic, social, heritage and health effects.

In his report, Doyle says that when an environmental assessment certificate is issued, the conditions and commitments should be measurable and enforceable so staff can monitor the project for compliance.

But "adequate monitoring and enforcement of certified projects is not occurring and follow-up evaluations are not being conducted," Doyle wrote. "We also found that information currently being provided to the public is not sufficient to ensure accountability."

Snyder said this is a serious problem, and he cited the following quote from Doyle's report: "We conclude that the EAO's oversight of certified projects is not sufficient to ensure that potential significant adverse effects are avoided or mitigated."

Another problem is the "astonishing" duplication of roles with a federal counterpart, Times-Colonist columnist Les Leyne wrote this week. Efforts to deal with this by former premier Gordon Campbell fell short, he wrote, and now Christy Clark has it in her sights.

The provincial office has approved 115 major projects since 1995 and has yet to impose a penalty for non-compliance.

Tanner said she and husband Scott were successful in holding to account a construction firm involved in building the Mid-Island Highway in the 1990s. They found a fish-bearing waterway near Hamilton Marsh, in Qualicum Beach, sullied with mud and other contaminants and, after their legal intervention, the company was fined.

But it took great effort and expense, she said.

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