NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Dehcho Region

Tags: physical sciences, fish habitat, wetlands, pipeline construction, wildlife habitat, aerial survey

Objective(s): To aide in the development of feasible mitigation measures that will reduce potential effects that the Project may have on aquatic environments, wetlands, wildlife, and vegetation.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5579. The proposed fieldwork will inform the baseline setting of the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) Application amendment on while also aiding in the development of feasible mitigation measures that will reduce potential effects that the Project may have on aquatic environments, wetlands, wildlife, and vegetation. As well, the fieldwork will provide: Information on pre-Project diversity, relative abundance, and distribution of vegetation communities; Pre-Project information on fish and fish habitat, wildlife, wildlife habitat, and wetlands encountered by the Project; and confirm the presence or potential for presence of federally listed rare species in accordance with the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). The proposed fieldwork will consist of a combination of helicopter flyover and landings to survey the current condition of watercourses, wetlands, wildlife habitat, and vegetation features at the Project locations with where physical abandonment activities will be conducted, access preparation will occur, and the camp will be located. A desktop review was conducted in 2023 prior to fieldwork surveys and results of that desktop review will be used to focus and inform field data collection. Ground level surveys and fieldwork will occur at the sites identified above and select locations within the Study Area where equipment access will be required. Fieldwork will involve data collection on the footprint and within 1 km of the footprint. Fieldwork will consist of the following activities: A wetlands and vegetation survey targeting areas with potential to support rare plant species and rare ecological communities that were identified during the desktop review. Areas with previous disturbance and high traffic corridors (i.e., existing right-of-way and access roads) will be targeted via flyover methods. During vegetation surveys, some rare plant species may be collected for the purposes of properly identifying the species. Following completion of the fieldwork reporting, these samples may potentially be submitted to regional academic institutions. A helicopter assisted ground-based wetland assessment to delineate approximate boundaries of wetlands potentially affected by Project activities. A wildlife study using aerial and ground-based surveys within the Study Area consisting of a wildlife habitat assessment and feature search. The purpose of the wildlife fieldwork is to assess and describe the existing conditions for wildlife by identifying wildlife and wildlife habitat based on visual sightings and signs (e.g., tracks, scat, markings) and identifying wildlife features (e.g., dens, mineral licks, stick nests) that could potentially be affected by the Project. Observed wildlife and wildlife sign will be recorded, including location, description, and photos where possible. No wildlife samples or specimens will be collected during fieldwork. An aquatics study using ground-based surveys to complete fish inventory sampling and fish habitat assessments. Fish presence and habitat data obtained from these surveys will identify fish species that could potentially be impacted by the Project. These surveys will also provide information for construction timing and mitigation. No fish will be retained during inventory sampling. Westcoast has developed a Community and Indigenous Engagement Plan (the Plan) for the Pointed Mountain Pipeline Abandonment Project. The Plan proposes using a multi-faceted approach to engage and communicate about the Project with potentially affected stakeholders and Indigenous groups in the Project area via phone calls, virtual meetings, emails and providing a project factsheet and mapping shapefiles. Engagement and communication is ongoing and is focused on identifying and addressing any interests or concerns and inclusion in assessments. Current outreach is focused on upcoming field opportunities in relation to the 2023 biophysical surveys and gathering of traditional land use information related to the additional Project locations that were not part of the original CER application. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from May 6, 2023 to July 31, 2023.