(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
March 05, 2016 - 4:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - The City of Kamloops has received a response from the federal Minister of Environment in regards to the proposed Ajax Mine.
In a letter received March 1, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says she will not be creating a review panel to look at the proposed mine at this time, but still has the ability to call one at a later date.
The letter also says she would be willing to meet Mayor Peter Milobar to discuss the project, though no dates or locations have been set. Milobar says it’s not clear what the timeline may be for a meeting and they are working on a date and location.
“My sense is that she may looking for a date to come out to Kamloops,” he says. “If the meeting has to be in Ottawa, I don’t have a problem getting on plane.”
The letter is on the agenda for the next city council meeting on March 8 at which time council will discuss the letter and meeting.
The mayor says a meeting which includes local First Nations involved would be fine, but it's up to the minister.
“We’d have no problem having a joint meeting but she may choose to have separate meetings,” he says.
The March 8 city council meeting will also feature a presentation on air quality from Peter Reid of Stantec Consulting, who was hired by the mine’s proponent KGHM to review the impact of the proposed copper and gold mine on the city's air quality.
The presentation will review the findings of the air quality assessment used in the application to the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Brendan Kergin at bkergin@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016