BRITISH COLUMBIA - The Federal Court of Appeal has set aside an earlier decision by the Federal Court Trial Division and reconfirmed the federal environmental assessment of the Red Chris project, belonging to IMPERIAL METALS of Vancouver. The court concluded the project is unlikely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.
The application of MINING WATCH CANADA for judicial review of the federal environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act was dismissed. Federal regulatory authorities are now authorized to issue regulatory approvals for the Red Chris project to proceed.
The appeal essentially involved matters of statutory interpretation. The court concluded the responsible federal authorities have discretion to define and redefine the scope of a project for the purposes of tracking an environmental assessment as a screening under section 18 of the environment act or as a comprehensive review under section 21.
Imperial Metals (www.ImperialMetals.com) became the owner of the Red Chris project when it acquired bcMetals in 2007.
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