MARATHON -- The Joint Review Panel which was established to review the proposed Marathon Palladium Project and conduct an assessment of the environmental effects of the Project has determined that the information provided to date is sufficient to proceed to a public hearing.
The public hearing is scheduled to begin on Feb. 15, 2022 and is expected to take place over a 30 -day period. The panel indicated additional details and hearing schedule will be announced at a later date.
Invited participants in this next stage of the process include members of the public, Indigenous groups, government and other organizations.
The Panel plans on prioritizing the safety of all hearing participants and will hold the public hearing sessions virtually by video.
Specific details regarding the “Public Hearing” state that Indigenous groups, interested parties, government authorities, and the proponent with an opportunity to present.
Subsequently, the Panel will hold three types of public sessions:
- General hearing sessions will provide an opportunity for participants, the proponent, and the public to present their views on the project and its potential environment effects.
- Topic-Specific hearing sessions will allow experts to present information relevant to the environmental assessment of the project. (The panel further defined “expert” as a person who provides information to the Panel on scientific, technical, social science or traditional knowledge matters).
- Community hearing sessions will be held to allow Indigenous communities to express to the panel their views and present information and issues of importance to them.
Each session will be followed with closing remarks to allow participants to summarize their conclusions to the Panel.
The Joint Review Panel, has provided instructions as to how to participate in the public hearing virtually.
The Panel will conduct the hearings in accordance with the “Public Hearing Procedures” issued on Dec. 7, 2021.
As a result, the those wishing to participate in the public hearing is asked to register with the Panel Secretariat at [email protected] no later that January, 16, 2022.
Early registration will assist in planning the public hearing sessions.
When registering, Participants must indicate whether they wish to register for the Community, General, or Topic-Specific hearing sessions. They must also indicate if they are registering as an individual or a group and the name and contact information of the main contact.
Participants must also provide a synopsis of the information they wish to present, whether they require a translator and for which language and whether they intend to be represented by legal counsel at the time of registration.
Further information about the Project, the Environmental Impact Assessment, and the hearing is available on the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry (Registry reference number 54755)
Mayor Rick Dumas, Marathon mayor, previously expressed his views regarding the importance of the Joint Review Panel, who have been looking into the environment impact of this project.
Among other things, he has stressed that he never wants Marathon to be a camp community, adding that GenPGM has been a good corporate citizen and that he has been looking forward to this announcement from the Joint Review Panel and their findings regarding the environment impact assessment.
