CEMA hosts Mine Closure Planning Workshop

FORT MCMURRAY, AB, Nov. 18 /CNW/ - The Cumulative Environmental Management Association's (CEMA) Reclamation Working Group (RWG) will sponsor a Closure Coordination Workshop titled: "Meeting the Expectation of a Continuous Functional Closure Landscape in the Oil Sands Region". The unique daylong Workshop will include 70 key stakeholders representing the federal and provincial regulators, industry, Aboriginal Groups and environmental non-profit groups. The goal of the Workshop is to ensure that the planning, operation, and reclamation of oilsand minesites support the development of a functional and interconnected post-closure regional landscape.

In regulatory documents, closure coordination is defined as the range of activities and processes at multiple spatial scales (within-lease, between-lease, regional) and temporal scales that support and or facilitate landscape-level integration of closure landscapes. This workshop will assist operators in meeting the Government of Alberta's expectation of having landforms, topography, vegetation, water bodies, and watercourses integrated within lease boundaries and across lease boundaries in their updated reclamation and closure plans due in 2011. Technical issues associated with the integration of these components will be presented and discussed at the workshop, e.g. regulatory expectations, industrial processes and operational challenges for oilsands mine closure planning at the landform and lease-level and regional scales. In addition, participants' input will be sought on successes, opportunities and challenges related to integration issues.

"This workshop is a great opportunity to share leading-edge coordinated mine closure and reclamation practices," stated Dr. Brett Purdy, Co-Chair Closure Coordination Task Group. "Participants will discuss a wide variety of subjects that will help to further develop and operationalize effective mine reclamation and mine closure practices in the oil sands region."

Specific objectives of the workshop include:

    
      -  Communication of government's expectations with respect to
         planning, operation, and reclamation of oilsand minesites through to
         closure;

      -  Knowledge of process linkages surrounding planning, operation, and
         reclamation;

      -  Increased dialogue and sharing between stakeholders involved in the
         processes of planning the mine life-cycle especially with respect to
         expectations, successes, opportunities, and challenges associated
         with integrated coordination; and

      -  Stakeholder feedback to support the identification and
         prioritization of potential tasks, knowledge or tools required.
    

CEMA is a nonprofit association based in Fort McMurray, Alberta. CEMA's mandate is to study the cumulative environmental effects of industrial development in the region and produce recommendations guidelines and management frameworks. Since its inception CEMA has produced hundreds of reports and 9 Management Frameworks.

For more information please visit www.cemaonline.ca.

For further information: Corey Hobbs, Communications Director, Cumulative Environmental Management Association, [phone], [email protected]