Sudbury Soils Study

Public Advisory Committee - Meeting #14

May 18, 2004 – 6:00 p.m.

Italian Club – Copper Cliff

 

 

Attendees:             Ersin Abdullah           Joe Cimino                            John Hogenbirk
                                 Gary Hrytsak               Lesley Nebenionquit             Paul St. Jean                         
                                 Bob Somek                 Carol Zippel              

                                                                                            
         Process Observer: Franco Mariotti

 

Absent:                  Ivan Filion                     Aino Laamanen                     Darrell Alston

                                   

TC Members:        Marc Butler                  Brian McMahon                     Stephen Monet
                                 Ido Vettoretti                Glen Watson                         

 

SARA Group:       Shawna Peddle           Chris Wren

           

Chair:                     John Hogenbirk

Recorder:              Julie Sabourin

 

 

Public (10)

 

1.0       CALL TO ORDER

 

The meeting was called to order at 6:45 p.m. following dinner.  The Chair welcomed guests and media present and indicated that an opportunity to address the PAC would be made under item 4.0 – Open Forum on the agenda. Thirty minutes would be allocated for this activity.

 

2.0       INTRODUCTIONS

 

All committee members present introduced themselves to the public in attendance.

 

3.0       DECLARATION OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST

 

None.

 

4.0       OPEN FORUM

 

The following persons asked to speak to the committee:

 

4.1       Marjorie Reynolds – Ms. Reynolds lives in the South End of the City and is an asthmatic. She claims her condition is as a result of environmental conditions and provided the group with the background of her illness and feels the emissions are exacerbating her problem.  Ms. Reynolds made specific reference to emissions from Inco’s nickel refinery.  Glen Watson acknowledged that the nickel refinery experiences periodic dust emissions, but that this problem has been recently greatly improved.  Glen Watson reminded the group of the efforts by the companies to date in reducing their emissions from all sources by almost 90% since the 1970’s.

 

4.2       Homer Seguin – Mr. Seguin raised the issue of the Scientific Advisor role (Dr. Brecher) and the perceived conflict of interest once again.  He requested the report prepared by him and paid for by INCO be tabled for discussion. Glen Watson indicated he was not aware of this report but would research it further.

 

Mr. Seguin also referenced an article in the Sudbury Star regarding the Vegetable Garden Survey dated April 27, 2004 in which the statement read “SARA Group says it is safe with no results made available as yet” and Mr. Seguin questioned the validity of that statement. Chris Wren indicated that at this time there is no reason to tell people not to eat their vegetables.  It was suggested another press release be prepared to further clarify his previous statement.

 

4.3       Eric Gillespie:  Mr. Gillespie tabled documents regarding Indoor air quality results from Port Colborne. He confirmed that the information he was sharing did not breach any confidentiality. Mr. Gillespie feels a study in this regard would be important to the final results of the SSS.

 

4.4       Additional Requests/Suggestions from the Open Forum

 

·        Podium for presenters

·        List of all TC members

·        PAC members to receive remuneration/mileage

·        Opportunity to question Dr. Brecher

 

5.0       ADDITIONS TO/APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

 

11-2004         Moved by Cimino - Zippel:  That the agenda be approved.  CARRIED

 

7.0       APPROVAL OF MINUTES

 

            7.1       Minutes of Meeting #13 – March 16, 2004

 

12-2004         Moved by Hrytsak – Somek:  That the minutes of meeting #13 dated March 16, 2004 be approved as distributed.  CARRIED

 

10.0    TC MEETINGS

 

 

 

 

10.1    Minutes of TC Meeting:    #30 March 11, 2004

 

These minutes were not included in the agenda package and therefore will be sent out to committee members via e-mail.

 

8.0       BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES

 

            8.1       PAC Terms of Reference – Final Approval

 

13-2004         Moved by St. Jean – Zippel:  That the PAC Terms of Reference by approved and submitted to the TC for their review.     CARRIED

 

6.0       PRESENTATION

 

6.1       SARA Group Report

 

Chris Wren updated the group on both the HHRA and ERA activities as well as other past activities.  He indicated that he has just received the first quarterly report and it is currently under internal review.

 

Update Newsletter: Draft copies were distributed to PAC members present with a request to provide their comments via e-mail by the end of the week.

 

            Chris also outlined the upcoming deliverables to the TC as well as the PAC.  He questioned whether or not the PAC wanted to review the document “History of Sudbury Smelters” which would be an information/background piece in the final Study document.

 

            He also informed the PAC of the upcoming release of the Executive Summary for the Soils Data Report which will be available at local libraries, MOE offices and on the website.  He indicated that the Executive Summary would be coming to the PAC for their input prior to public release.

 

            Risk Assessment:  The definition – “is a tool, or a process, for estimating the potential for adverse effects that could result from the presence of contaminants at a site”.  Chris went on to explain further the whys and wherefores of a risk assessment for the information of the PAC.

 

            Following this presentation the PAC made the following observations:

 

·        Indoor air quality needs careful consideration

·        Speciation studies are necessary in some instances (e.g. nickel broken down to four sub-categories which can be progressively more hazardous than elemental nickel)

·        Do not trivialize or minimize the results of the Study.  The public has been waiting for a long time for information.

 

8.2       PAC Membership

           

Selection of New Members:  The Chair outlined the process to date that was carried out for the completion of the roster of 12 members with participation of the WG and some PAC members.  He indicated that names of two or three potential candidates would be submitted for PAC approval and then subsequently to TC for their approval.  John indicated that he hoped to have this concluded for the next PAC meeting.

 

Reappointment of Current Membership: Currently there is no process in place with regard to this item.  It was suggested that those members wishing to stay on submit a letter of interest to the TC.  The concern was expressed that this would give the TC an opportunity to remove a PAC member.  It was felt that a recommendation from the PAC to accept those that have reapplied would be respected by the TC. There had been discussions in recent months about devolving the participation of the TC in the selection process and that possibly the IPO could become involved.  It was agreed the Chair would formulate a policy to be distributed electronically that could be tabled for approval at the next PAC meeting.

 

9.0       NEW BUSINESS

 

9.1       Logistical Support for PAC

 

John indicated to the committee that the previous Chair was able to use his office support to do such things as faxing, photocopying, etc., which is not a privilege he has access to.  Glen indicated that the companies would assist when necessary and the Secretary also indicated her support in this regard.

 

10.0    ADDENDUM

 

            10.1    Issues

 

            Franco Mariotti, the Independent Process Observer, opened the discussions regarding his observations of the meeting.  With regard to the issue of Dr. Brecher, he indicated it would be hard to find a reviewer that has not worked with any of the organizations of the TC.  He also indicted that in one of his Reports, he asked the public to provide alternative suggestions and none came forward. He felt this issue needed to be concluded.

 

            Further, the question was raised as to what is Chris’ role as the Director of the SARA Group and it was noted that he was the spokesperson for the science of the Study.

 

11.0    NEXT MEETING

 

This was previously scheduled for July 20, 2004 and there was a request to consider cancelling this meeting for a summer hiatus.  As this would leave a lengthy period before the next meeting it was agreed to schedule a meeting for June 22^nd at Science North.  Shawna indicated she would look into this further and get back to the group.

 

(Secretary’s note:  Subsequently an e-mail was sent out with the following information:

            DATE:                        Tuesday, June 22, 2004

            TIME:              6:30 – 9:30 p.m. (dinner at 6:00 p.m.)

            LOCATION:   Gold Room, Science North)

 

11.0    ADJOURNMENT

 

14-2004         Moved by Cimino – St. Jean: That this meeting be adjourned at 9:30 p.m.  CARRIED

 

 

 

_______________________________              _____________________________

                        Chair, John Hogenbirk                                             Recorder, Julie Sabourin