Panel Report

4.1 The Cigar Lake Mine

It is recommended that approval for mining as described in the EIS be granted, subject to the following condition:

• the proponent must submit to federal and provincial regulators a detailed comparative evaluation of various options for waste rock disposal, including the option that is most advantageous for environmental protection. If no other option presents a clear environmental advantage, the mine waste rock should be disposed of in one of the Sue pits on the McClean Lake site.

Approval for the project should not be granted until a location that provides secure environmental protection has been found for disposal of waste rock.

4.2 The JEB Tailings Management Facility (TMF)

It is recommended that permission be given to use the JEB pit as a disposal facility for tailings produced from the milling of Cigar Lake ore, provided that the following conditions are met:

• it must be demonstrated experimentally that pore-water contaminant concentrations can be maintained at acceptable levels in aged tailings;
• if approval is eventually given to construct a TMF in the JEB pit, the chemical and physical properties of the deposited tailings must be monitored carefully, including periodic assessment of porewater quality;
• Fox Lake must not be used as a mixing zone;
• sediments in Fox Lake must be monitored;
• the more stringent of the Saskatchewan Surface Water Quality Objectives (SSWQO) or the recently amended Canadian Water Quality Guidelines (CWQG) must be used when modelling the expected contamination of Fox Lake;
• a better geotechnical assessment of the underdrain portal should be provided, and design improvements made if required;
• tailings, after consolidation, should not be above the top of the sandstone formation;
• procedures for mitigating all potential unacceptable impacts must be identified before deposition begins. The construction of a hydraulic cage or raising the water level in Fox Lake should be more completely described and approved in principle by appropriate federal and provincial departments before deposition begins;
• the operator of the JEB TMF should be required to demonstrate that it possesses adequate managerial and scientific competence before approval is given to construct and operate this highly dangerous facility;
• the operator of the JEB TMF should demonstrate that it is capable of, and intent upon, giving thoughtful, sincere and professional attention to the concerns of the regulators, Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management (SERM) and the Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB); and
• arrangements should be made to provide for perpetual monitoring of this and other tailings management facilities, if approval is given. Financial arrangements should be made, prior to approval, for such monitoring. Monitoring should include the participation of local people as described in Section 4.4.

4.3 Long-Term Monitoring

This project, and in particular the JEB Tailings Management Facility, if it is approved, would require long-term monitoring and possible mitigative activities in the future. Arrangements should be made to guarantee that monitoring and any required mitigation could occur without placing a financial burden on future generations. For this reason, we reiterate our previous recommendation for the establishment of a contingency fund to provide for the ongoing costs of long-term monitoring and mitigation, after the responsibility for the sites is returned to the Province.

4.4 The Environmental Quality Committees and the Athabasca Working Group

The Environmental Quality Committees (EQCs) provide a good avenue for encouraging local participation in decisions related to uranium mining activities in northern Saskatchewan. Adequate financial support should be provided to educate and train committee members in the various issues related to uranium mining and milling. The AECB should be more active in its EQC support and participation.

The activities of the Athabasca Working Group (AWG) are to be encouraged. It is important that the mining companies and community representatives meet regularly to discuss issues of common concern; it is also important that the decisions arrived at by the AWG be given more permanent, possibly legal, status.

4.5 Health Studies

We are encouraged by recent initiatives to monitor different aspects of community and worker health, including:

• a study of cumulative effects;
• a study of the possible contamination of country foods;
• a baseline community health status survey; and
• an epidemiological study of the incidence of lung cancer among uranium mine workers.

It is imperative that sufficient funds be made available to ensure that these initiatives are able to continue until their mandates are completed.

4.6 Employment and Business Opportunities

It is recommended that an employment objective for the participation of northerners in the mine workforce be set at a minimum of 50 per cent, and that it be increased by 1 per cent per year until it reaches at least 67 per cent. It is also recommended that an objective of obtaining at least 35 per cent of all required goods and services from northern suppliers be incorporated into the surface lease.