Pierre River Mine Project

TERRESTRIAL AENV SIRS 44 – 78
Section 13.1
Request 53b Is additional right-of-way and consequent disturbance required to accommodate
the additional capacity being developed, or is the capacity expansion a result of
engineering optimization of the existing pipelines?
Response 53b The Muskeg River Mine Expansion pipeline capacity will be sufficient to handle
the additional diluent and diluted bitumen volumes between Lease 13 and
Scotford. No additional disturbance or rights-of-way will be required as the only
modifications expected would be the addition of pumping capacity.
Question No. 54
Request Volume 2, SIR 22d, Page 15-18.
In response to the question of what is meant by a mining setback, Shell states that
Mining set-back refers to the designation of a corridor between the expected
disturbance footprint and a natural feature, in this case the Athabasca River,
whereby no disturbance, including clearing will occur. The raw water intake
and pipeline occur within the 250 m setback that Shell has committed to, which
appears to contradict Shell’s statement that no disturbance, including clearing
will occur within the 250 m setback.
54a What will the effective width of the Athabasca River corridor be at the sites of the
raw water intake and pipeline?
Response 54a The raw water intake and buried pipeline are not predicted to alter the effective
width of the Athabasca River corridor, nor is the associated clearing predicted to
act as a barrier to wildlife movement. However, the intake building and clearing
at the river’s edge will likely have a filter effect on wildlife by reducing the rates
of wildlife movement through the corridor at the location of the disturbance. A
sufficient number of individuals are expected to cross the clearing (i.e., a
minimum of one effective migrant per generation), such that genetic connectivity
is predicted to be maintained (Mills and Allendorf 1996; Wang 2004).
References
Mills, L.S. and F.W. Allendorf. 1996. The One-Migrant-per-Generation Rule in
Conservation and Management. Conservation Biology. 10(6): 1509-
1518.
Wang, J. 2004. Application of the One-Migrant-per-Generation Rule to
Conservation and Management. Conservation Biology. 18(2): 332-343.
13-16 Shell Canada Limited April 2010
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