Neither Hammond River Holdings or its consultant, Dillon, mean to imply by this statement that some people in the area or elsewhere may not be concerned about the Project.  “Significance” determination is made based on comparing the anticipated effects of the Project to the defined thresholds for the socioeconomic environment (Section 5.7.1.3).  This is standard EIA practice, and is consistent with the following methodological steps of EIA practice (Section 4.2.4): 

• define boundaries and significance threshold (i.e., threshold of acceptability),
• establish baseline conditions,
• identify effects that would occur without mitigation,
• identify mitigation to reduce effects,
• and compare the residual effect (i.e., effects that remain after mitigation has been applied) to the significance threshold to determine if the effect remains within the defined threshold of acceptability. 

If a level of confidence is less than high, it does not mean that the effects are unacceptable, but rather that a follow-up measure needs to be defined to verify the effects prediction or the effectiveness of mitigation. 

Individual perceptions of the presence of an industrial operation in a community are unique from one person to another and should be considered as such.  The “significance determination” presented in the EIA Registration relates to meeting the requirements of the legislation and accepted EIA practice. We encourage those concerned to fully understand the issues and how they will be managed and/or mitigated and communicate concerns through the formal channels provided.