Meeting Summary – 8 December 2010 – Samuel Hearne Secondary School library, Inuvik, NT

Arctic Offshore Drilling Review

Meeting Summary

Date and Location
Date Location
Wednesday
8 December 2010
9:00 a.m. to 10:20 a.m.		 Samuel Hearne Secondary School students
Samuel Hearne Secondary School library
Inuvik, NT

Purpose: Introduce the Arctic Offshore Drilling Review to the students of Samuel Hearne Secondary School.

Participants
Participants
63 students  
Roman Mahnic Principal
Brigitte Kay Career Development Officer
Ross McCallum Teacher
Russ Hancock Teacher
Eric Church Teacher
Zahra Khimji Teacher
Will Logan Teacher
Gaétan Caron Chair and Chief Executive Officer, NEB
David Hamilton Member, NEB
Shirley Dawe Assistant Project Manager, Arctic Offshore Drilling Review, NEB
Brian Chambers Northern Advisor, NEB
Bharat Dixit Technical Leader, Conservation of Resources, NEB
Pamela Romanchuk Environmental Specialist, NEB
Susan Gudgeon Northern Coordinator, Arctic Offshore Drilling Review, NEB

Introductory Remarks (NEB):

  • An overview of the Arctic Offshore Drilling Review was provided, including the mandate of the NEB, the events leading up to the Review and generally where drilling may occur in the Beaufort Sea.
  • The Aurora College students were asked "what does the NEB need from companies before it can say yes or no to drilling in the Arctic?"

Dialogue with students:

In response to the question put forward, a number of areas of interest and concern were raised by the students, including:

  1. Clarity of Mandate and Authority of the NEB with respect to offshore drilling:

    • Whether the road from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk would be considered as part of the Review
    • Whether the NEB has the authority to require companies to hire local workers

  2. General:

    • With global warming, will there be discussions and forecasts regarding shifts in tidal currents
    • How many people would be on a drill ship and would they be hired locally or brought in from elsewhere
    • There are already a lot of regulations and restrictions (quotas) on hunting – will there be more because of offshore drilling
    • How well experienced will the people doing the work be?
    • Where would the drilling take place?

  3. Emergency Response and Preparedness:

    • If something happens, need to get word out to let people who are out on the land in remote areas know about it
    • If something goes wrong, will there be more than one solution to stop it
  4. Value of Resources:

    • If there is a spill, this would harm animals
    • There are still problems in Alaska – if it happens in the Beaufort area, people won't be able to harvest and will have to move or leave

Group Exercise:

  • Students divided into their classes and set out on the attached flipcharts what was on their mind and, in particular, what they wanted to see answered before the NEB looks at an application for offshore drilling.

Concluding Remarks:

  • NEB will be back in Inuvik in January to listen to people and hear their perspectives and concerns and would be pleased to have student present their views
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