April 18th, 2011 - Aboriginal and Public Involvement Program – See the Reports

author: AREVA

One of the principles of AREVA’s Corporate Social Responsibility is to engage with the leadership of Aboriginal people, municipal representatives and the general public in a manner that recognizes their interest in AREVA’s business, to understand how AREVA’s operations may potentially affect their interests, and how their interests may be accommodated by AREVA. We are committed to working with the general public and Aboriginal people who are interested or may be potentially affected by our projects, so their rights are respected.  To do this we are committed to interact with the public and Aboriginal people in a transparent manner, with mutual respect and honesty.

In keeping with the above commitments, we are pleased to provide our Aboriginal and Public Involvement Program (APIP) Strategy document as well as the related reports describing the content and results of our APIP during the first three phases of our public engagement efforts between Spring 2009 and Fall 2010.  The APIP strategy and the reports can be reviewed and downloaded on this blog right in the download section.

If you have any questions and/or comments about these documents don’t hesitate to send them to us using the contact section on this blog.

March 23rd, 2011 - Fixing Up Highway Creek Bridge!

author: AREVA

While visiting with comunity leaders and members during 2010, we repetedly heard people identify a number of specific road improvement suggestions.  One of these suggestions was that the bridge over Highway Creek, west of La Ronge on Highway #2, needed to be fixed up as it appeared to be “sagging”.

Our commitment to the community people we met in 2010 was that we would communicate all the concerns they raised about the roads to the officials at the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure – we kept that commitment.  We brought community concerns to Ministry officials and to the Minister himself.

We were very pleased to discover in February 2011 that the Highway Creek bridge was being repaired to addressed the issues Northerners had identified.  The efforts and hard work undertaken by the Department of Highways and Infrastructure to meet the residents of Northern Saskatchewan’s expectation are commandable.  We would encourage Northerners to continue to communicate with us and with government officials to ensure that issues are brought forward and that highways and infrastructure work the way they were intended to.

As stewards of Saskatchewan’s North we all play a role in bringing improvements to the region.

January 19th, 2011 - Environmental Impact Statement Submitted to the Regulators

author: AREVA-admin

On January 10, 2011 we submitted our Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Receipt and Processing of McArthur River Ore at the McClean Lake Operation to the federal and provincial regulators.  This EIS was prepared in response to the regulators’ Project-Specific Guidelines, as well as the feedback we received while travelling across Saskatchewan’s North last year.  You can find a copy of the EIS main document and appendices as well as the Project-Specific Guidelines here.  The EIS is now undergoing technical review by the regulators, and will also be sujbect to a formal public comment period.  We will let you know on this blog as soon as the public comment period dates are made available by the regulators.  In the meantime, we continue to welcome your input and feedback on this document and would be pleased to answer your questions.

You can post comments/questions here, email mcarthurtomcclean@areva.ca, or call the regulatory coordinator, Carolanne Inglis-McQuay at 306-343-4555.

December 21st, 2010 - The Best Drivers Around

author: AREVA-admin

Safety is one of our core values, and ensuring the public’s safety on the road is very important to us.  One of the ways we can ensure road safety is by requiring that those that haul goods for us are some of the best drivers around.  Many of the drivers have more kilometres on the northern roads than you and I will ever see, but at a minimum, these are some of the basic standards:

  • Drivers must have a Class 1 A licence, long combination vehicle licence, 5 years or more of B-train experience and clean driver’s abstract
  • Must take a Professional Driver Improvement Course every 4 years and an interactive training program using simulated driving scenarios
  • Are trained with WHIMIS, radiation safety, uranium ore slurry product specifications and are certified in Transportation of Dangerous Goods
  • Are required to stop every two hours as per standard operating procedures.
  • Must try as best as possible to have only one truck on a bridge at one time
  • Must slow down when meeting other vehicles on the road, including passenger vehicles
  • Radio each other about road conditions and other vehicles on the road

Have you ever wanted to hop in a semi truck?  Now is your chance – watch this video.

December 15th, 2010 - Just How Wide Are The Roads?

author: AREVA-admin

A common question people asked on our northern road show was, “are the roads wide enough for the trucks?”  We have done our research, and can tell you yes, the roads are wide enough.  To help you visualize the roads, we drew, to scale, trucks and local traffic passing each other on the roads.  A particular point of concern was traffic on the Churchill River bridge.  You’ll see that passing is still possible even when the road is 6.70 m wide.  Semi trucks hauling goods to and from the mines and exploration sites are in constant communication and avoid crossing this bridge when other vehicles are on the bridge.
We want everyone to get home safely.  The best way to ensure this, is by being a responsible driver and following the rules of the road.  For a quick reminder of how to stay safe, watch this video.

October 28th, 2010 - We Still Want Your Opinion!

author: AREVA-admin

In September, we held a significant community tour, which involved open houses, meetings with First Nation, Métis and community leaders, and presentations to the high schools.  We had some great dialogue with people who cam out to learn about the Project, ask questions, and raise concerns  Comments are questions related to the conditions of public highways, contingency and emergency response, the proposed future direct link between McArthur River and McClean Lake, aboriginal and public involvement issues, and the environmental review process were raised.  We have recorded what we heard.  This information will be reported in our forthcoming environmental impact statement.  This report will eventually be posted to this blog.

If you were not able to come out and meet us, there is still time to provide us with your comments and ask questions.  You can post comments/questions here, email mcarthurtomcclean@areva.ca, or call the regulatory coordinator, Carolanne Inglis-McQuay at 306-343-4555.

October 1st, 2010 - Blog Technical Difficulties @ Open Houses

author: AREVA-admin

For those of you who joined us at one of our open houses in the north, you may remember that we had this blog available to you to read and submit comments. Unfortunately, due to some technical difficulties, your comments and/or questions submitted via the blog were lost.  We will make sure this doesn’t happen next time.

We would really appreciate if you would take the time to once again type out your comments/questions so that we may provide you with some answers and record your comments. What you have to say is important to us.

September 28th, 2010 - Video Released: Sharing The Road Safely

author: AREVA-admin

If you came to one of our open houses, you’ve already seen our newest video production called Sharing The Road Safely. We reviewed some of the important rules of the road in a previous post and mentioned a video would be available soon.  So, here it is.  If you would like to watch the video in cree, click here, or if you would like to watch the video in dene, click here.

September 21st, 2010 - Taking off for the Basin

author: AREVA-admin

We have now had 10 open houses in the north, and today we are taking off for the basin for four more open houses.  We will be setting up in the same open house style as in other locations. The schedule is below:

Stony Rapids from 9:00am – 12:00pm on Tuesday, September 21 at Stony Rapids Community Hall
Black Lake from 4:00pm – 7:00pm on Tuesday, September 21 at Father Porte Memorial Dene School
Fond Du Lac from 4:00pm – 7:00pm on Wednesday, September 22 at Father Gamache Memorial School
Wollaston from 9:00am – 12:00pm on Thursday, September 23 at Father Megret Memorial High School

September 14th, 2010 - North of La Ronge

author: AREVA-admin

We had open houses in La Ronge, Lac La Ronge Indian Band, and Air Ronge last week. The busiest open house was La Ronge, but we received good comments and feedback from all of our sessions. We have been diligently recording comments and questions that we are being brought up. These records continue to help shape the Environmental Impact Statement and will be reported to different government agencies.

After a weekend off, we are back in the north. Today we went to Grandmother’s Bay and Stanley Mission. One of the most common themes we are hearing is related to road conditions.  It is in AREVA’s best interest, for local and insutry traffic alike, to see that the road conditions are improved.

We will continue on this week holding open houses in a number of communities. We hope to see you at one of the following locations:

Southend from 9:00am – 12:00pm on Tuesday, September 14 at the Southend Youth Centre

Hall Lake from 9:00 am – 12:00pm on Wednesday, September 15 at the Band Hall

Pinehouse from 4:00pm – 7:00pm on Wednesday, September 15 at Pinehouse Community Hall

Patuanak from 9:00am – 12:00pm on Thursday, September 15 at William Apesis Memorial Hall

Sucker River from 9:00am – 12:00pm on Friday, September 16 at Sucker River Community Hall

If you are unable to make these open houses, please be sure to ask questions on this blog.