Pierre River Mine Project

TERRESTRIAL AENV SIRS 44 – 78
Section 13.1
Request 54b Describe the mitigation measures that Shell will implement along the raw water
intake and pipeline to ensure that the effective corridor width is not reduced at
these sites.
Response 54b The raw water intake and buried pipeline are not predicted to reduce the effective
width of the Athabasca River corridor and the resulting clearing is not expected
to act as a barrier to wildlife movement. Rather, the clearing within the corridor
will likely have a filter effect on wildlife such that rates of movement through the
corridor at the location of the disturbance are reduced. To lessen the effect on the
rates of movement across the clearing, Shell will undertake practical measures to
minimize the clearing width and disturbance area of the raw water intake and
buried pipeline footprint in compliance with regulatory guidelines. The footprint
of the raw water intake and buried pipeline will be a clearing potentially 80 to
230 m wide. The clearing will be a combination of the water intake building at
the river’s edge which initially might be 5 ha because of space needs for
construction laydown, and the pipeline right-of-way (30 to 50 m wide). Exact
dimensions and location of the areas to be developed will be developed during
future detailed design work.
References
The greatest disruption to wildlife movement along the Athabasca River corridor
will be temporary during construction of the water intake and pipeline, which
typically takes 3 years for similar projects. However, based on wildlife corridor
monitoring conducted in 2006 through 2008 along the Athabasca River (Golder
2009), genetic connectivity is predicted to be maintained during the construction
period (i.e., a minimum of one effective migrant per generation) (Mills and
Allendorf 1996, Wang 2004). The disturbance will be minimized following
construction through immediate re-vegetation of the right-of-way and
construction laydown areas.
Golder. 2009. Shell Jackpine Mine-Phase 1 Wildlife Corridor Monitoring Year 3
Annual Report 2008. Prepared for Shell Canada Ltd. Fort McMurray,
AB.
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.
Request 54c Provide a conceptual map indicating the potential movement paths that wildlife
are likely to take when travelling past the raw water intake and pipeline.
Response 54c As the clearing created for the raw water intake and buried pipeline (potentially
80 to 230 m wide) is not predicted to alter the movement paths of wildlife along
the Athabasca River corridor, a description of wildlife movement has been
April 2010 Shell Canada Limited 13-17
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