Former Lower Churchill Environmental Assessment Panel member calls for government action on Muskrat Falls

Press Release

November 24, 2015

Former Lower Churchill Environmental Assessment Joint Review Panel member and Law Professor Meinhard Doelle has called for immediate government action on the Muskrat Falls project to address the risk of methylmercury contamination, as well as legislation reform on environmental assessment follow-up, more generally.

Doelle’s call, as posted in his law blog published on November 20, was sparked by new scientific findings that suggest that the risk of methylmercury contamination in Lake Melville is much greater than predicted by Nalcor Energy during the Lower Churchill environmental assessment.

“It seems clear from the 2015 (Harvard) study that the predictions made by Nalcor with respect to methylmercury have now been shown to be inaccurate,” states Doelle. “What is troubling is that there does not appear to be a mechanism in place to ensure an effective adaptive management response that considers what can be done at this stage of the project to address the risk of methylmercury contamination in Lake Melville. If this impression is accurate, this is a serious flaw in the follow-up and monitoring approach that needs to be addressed… Legislative reform would appear the most appropriate solution in the long term, but more immediate government action is clearly needed for the Muskrat Falls project.”

Doelle outlines the “poor record of implementation” of panel recommendations by the federal and provincial governments and Nalcor to address methylmercury contamination risk to date, but says it is “reasonable to expect decision makers to now carefully reflect on these decisions in light of important new information.”

The Nunatsiavut Government supports Doelle’s recommendations as outlined in his blog, and is encouraging residents of Newfoundland and Labrador to sign an online petition to convince governments and Nalcor to make changes to the Muskrat Falls project before flooding of the reservoir starts. The petition can be found at www.makemuskratright.com.

Amnesty International Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation, and the NunatuKavut Community Council, are also calling on governments and Nalcor to implement changes to the Muskrat Falls project.

For more information, seehttps://blogs.dal.ca/melaw/2015/11/20/the-disconnect-between-ea-implementation-a-look-at-the-methylmercury-issue-in-the-lower-churchill-project

Media Contact:

Bert Pomeroy

Director of Communications

709-896-8582

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