Sudbury Soils Study
Public Advisory Committee – Meeting #33
September 25, 2007 – 7:00 p.m.
Room C11, Tom Davies Square
Attendees: Nicole
Breau Adam Cecchetto Dick
Cowan
John Hogenbirk Bob Somek Paula
Takats
Carol Zippel
Regrets: Ersin
Abdullah Darrell
Alston Gary Hrytsak
Aino Laamanen Whitefish
Lake First Nations Representative
Glen
Watson Franco
Mariotti
TC Working Group: Marc Butler Brian
Cameron Stephen Monet
Ido Vettoretti
Independent
Process Observer:
Chair: John Hogenbirk
Recorder: Julie Sabourin
Public (4)
______________________________________________________________________
JOHN HOGENBIRK PRESIDING
1.0 CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to
order at 7:00 p.m. following dinner.
2.0 INTRODUCTIONS
Members of the PAC and TC Working
Group introduced themselves to the public in attendance.
3.0 DECLARATION OF
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Adam reported that he is now working for
Klohn Crippen Berger which at times does contract work for CVRD INCO. He also indicated that they are not
working on any CVRD INCO projects at this time.
2.
Dr.
Chris Wren
Dr.
Wren informed the PAC that Gartner-Lee Ltd., the company that he currently
works for has recently been purchased by AE COM. He also indicated that they
are not working on any CVRD INCO or Xstrata Nickel projects at this time as far
as he is aware.
3. John
Hogenbirk
John
declared a potential conflict as the research centre he is employed by at times
enters into contracts with the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Health
Canada. For this reason he has deliberately refrained from discussions
regarding this group and has left it for the PAC and vice-char Gary Hrytsak to
deal with. He also indicated that
the research centre does not currently have a contract with Health Canada.
4.0 OPEN FORUM (30
min.)
There were no questions
raised from the audience.
5.0 ADDITIONS
TO/APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
There were no additional
items to add to the agenda.
6.0 REPORT ON
QUESTIONS/ISSUES RAISED AT LAST PAC MEETING
There were none tabled.
7.0 PRESENTATION
7.1 SARA
Group Update on the SSS
Communication Activities:
Dr.
Wren reported:
The
question was raised as to why the PAC did not have an opportunity to review
this document electronically prior to publication? Dr. Wren apologized and indicated that this was an
oversight.
Dr. Wren
also informed the group that he made a presentation at the conference of the
Canadian Public Health Inspectors group and that there may be an article
printed in the Northern Life as well as a CBC radio interview.
Volume III (ERA)
Draft 2 of Volume III was
submitted to the TC and TERA in early January, 2007;
á The
ERA-IERP sessions were held in Sudbury during March 6-7, 2007;
á The
Ontario Ministry of the Environment submitted detailed comments to the SARA
Group in April;
á TERA
submitted the final IERP report to the Technical Committee in June, 2007;
á The final
IERP report stated:
o Sudbury
ERA represents the current the state of science in ecological risk assessment;
o The
Sudbury study represents on of the largest ecological risk assessments they are
aware of in North America.
á SARA
provided detailed responses to comments to the TC and MOE in August, 2007;
á SARA has
tentatively planned to submit the Final Draft ERA report to TC in November.
Tentative
ERA Schedule:
á TC has a 10
week review period – end of January to February, 2008
á ERA
report finalized and released to public, early March, 2008
á 60 day
period for public review and comment (concludes early May)
Volume II (HHRA):
á Members
of SARA and the TC held various technical sessions to address key scientific
issues in the spring, 2007;
á The Final
Draft HHRA report was submitted to the TC mid-September;
á This
begins a 10 week review period and comments are expected by the end of
November;
á The HHRA
will be finalized and it is currently proposed to release the results to the
public the week of December 10;
á Three
community information sessions are planned for Sudbury, Copper Cliff and
Falconbridge;
á Concurrent
with HHRA results, the following are planned to be available:
o Hard
copies of the HHRA for viewing.
CDÕs will be made available for the public to take away upon request.
Dr. Wren also indicated that hard copies of the HHRA will be made available to
libraries, and MOE and SDHU offices and the entire document will be uploaded to
the website at the same time.
o Late Fall
Update Newsletter summarizing the results of the HHRA
o HHRA
Summary Report (Plain Language Summary Report)
o Media and
Press releases. In reference to
these it was noted that SARA, the CSC along with the WG would be preparing
these on behalf of the TC.
Plain
Language Summary/Summary Report
Dr. Wren requested feedback as to how to address
this portion of the report – should it continue to be the Plain Language
Summary or a Summary Report. It
was noted that this is different from the Executive Summary which will be
contained in the full report and should run about 18 to 20 pages. He also
indicated this Summary Report would run longer as it provides background
information as well as trying to put the risks/key messages into context as it
was noted that this report is the one the layperson would need. Dr. Wren also indicated that the Update
newsletter, media reports and fact sheets could be provided as well.
In reference to the Òintended audienceÓ, it was
felt that there were three targets.
These would be the scientists, the second would be the co-workers,
university and high school students and the third would be the next door neighbour
wanting to know what it means to his/her community. The original Summary Report was distributed last week to the
TC for their initial feedback and it was found to raise a lot of questions as
to the intended audience and the level of understanding. For this reason, the SARA Group needs
another two weeks to review TC comments and they then expect to be able to
release it to the PAC for their two week review.
Next
Steps:
á SARA to
review TC comments (not yet fully received) and revise report;
á Distribute
to PAC for review;
á Revise
and re-submit to TC/CSC for review;
á Submit
for French translation;
á Submit to
graphics for lay-out;
á Go to
printing and production;
á 60 day
period of public review and comment that will close about the end of February,
2008.
8.0 APPROVAL
OF MINUTES
8.1 Minutes of
Meeting #32 – May 15, 2007
Paula Takats asked that her name be added to those in attendance.
11-2007 Moved by Breau - Cowan: That the minutes of the meeting
#32 dated May 15, 2007 be approved with amendment. CARRIED
9.0 BUSINESS
ARISING FROM MINUTES
There was no business
arising.
10.0
NEW
BUSINESS
11.0 TC MEETINGS
11.1 Meeting
#55 Key Progress & Decision Summary February 8, 2007
Tabled for
information. The question was raised
as to why so many of the recent TC meetings have been cancelled. The WG reported that during this time
SARA has needed to time to concentrate on finalizing the reports and
participating in technical sessions as well as allowing the TC time to review
the reports. Having a TC meeting during these times would not have been
productive.
12.0 ADDENDUM
12.1 Memo to the Working Group and
the SARA Group
The following was
offered/submitted to the Working Group and SARA on behalf of the PAC:
The PAC is keen to
continue to do its part as the HHRA and ERA draw to a close. A recent PAC
Meeting of the Whole and email communications over the summer have identified a
number of recommendations and requests that the PAC wish to bring to the
attention of the TC and SARA Group. The main items include:
1)
The PAC is prepared to continue to receive draft documents in the strictest
confidence.
2) (a) The PAC strongly recommends that it be given a two
to three week period to review the Plain Language Summary and permit comparison
to the Executive Summary of the full HHRA report. This will allow
sufficient time for measured discussion among the PAC. (b) In addition,
the period should be scheduled so as to provide enough time for the TC, SARA
Group and CSC to carefully consider our constructive comments and incorporate
any changes into the aforementioned documents at their discretion.
3) The PAC is also prepared to provide feedback on any
communication tool such as presentations, posters and handouts, as well as
comment on prepared answers to hot-button questions, media releases and so forth.
4)
The PAC requests a copy or an update on the communications plan so that they
may offer suggestions or comments.
5)
(a) The PAC supports the presence of Dr. Ron Brecher at the Community
Information sessions and wonders if it would be useful for Dr. Brecher to give
a presentation on HHRA methodologies. (b) A similar recommendation is made to
have Dr Stella Swanson present at the ERA Community Information sessions.
6)
The PAC strongly recommends that a representative of TERA and/or a member of
the HHRA Independent Expert Review Panel be invited to attend (in-person or
perhaps by video-conference) to give an overview of the peer-review process.
Ditto for the ERA Community Information Sessions.
7)
(a) Given that the SSS website is the main public repository of information
about the study and the process, the PAC will be making suggestions to update
parts of the website that deal with the PAC so as to reflect changes over the
years. (b) The PAC also recommends that a historical archive be created
that shows the evolution of the study and process. For example, a list of all
members (past and present) should be created to show the number and variety of
participation in the PAC. (c) The PAC also recommends that the web site
be maintained for a one to two year period after the end of the study and
should itself be archived in a manner that is accessible to the public.
8) The PAC wishes to inform the TC and SARA Group that
we will be preparing a report that will offer our view of our role and
participation in the process. The report will focus on the experience and
evolution of the PAC since its inception. A draft version will be shared
with the TC and SARA Group so that study partners can correct errors in fact
and offer other comments. The PAC anticipates that it will submit its
report during the public comment period so that the PAC's report will become
part of the addendum of the official HHRA document.
9) The PAC anticipates preparing a second report at the
end of the ERA process in which we will focus on lessons learned and offer
suggestions for future Risk Assessments. A draft version will be shared
with the TC and SARA Group. This report will be submitted as part of the
public record.
13.0 NEXT
PAC MEETING
The WG has invited the PAC to participate in a meeting
on either the evening of October 17th or 18th to discuss
the Summary Report. As well, a
meeting is to be arranged for December 6th (tentatively) to review
the material for the Community Information Sessions. For this reason, the November 20th PAC meeting
would be cancelled or moved.
12-2007 Moved
by Cowan – Zippel: That the
meeting for November 20th be cancelled. CARRIED
The next meeting will then be scheduled for January
15, 2008.
14.0 FOLLOW
UP TO PUBLIC SESSION
There was no additional
discussion with the public.
15.0 ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
_________________________ ________________________
Chair,
John Hogenbirk Recorder,
Julie Sabourin