With this in mind the IEAC mandate is:
The work of the IEAC is guided by the following objectives:
To review and direct scientific and Indigenous knowledge research that will help us make evidence-based recommendations for the protection of health of the Indigenous and local populations who harvest and consume country foods in the Churchill River and Lake Melville.
Learn MoreTo review human health monitoring plans and, if necessary, recommend additions or changes to those plans that will make them robust and integrated, and result in the protection of human health as it relates to the exposure to methylmercury.
Learn MoreTo review the results of all monitoring plans, measures, and programs, and all relevant research, studies and assessments that relate to the protection of human health.
Learn MoreTo make recommendations to the responsible Ministers and regulators regarding mitigation, monitoring and management measures that will protect the health of the Indigenous and local population who harvest and consume country foods in the Churchill River and Lake Melville.
Learn MoreMeet the three indigenous Knowledge Experts and six Scientific Experts that make up the Expert sub-committee of the IEAC.
Dr. Reimer has over 40 years’ experience in the environmental field as a professor, scientific advisor and expert. His expertise includes... Read More
Mr. Michelin is a traditional Inuk hunter, trapper and fisher. He is a lifelong resident of Happy Valley-Goose Bay with deep family roots in Lake... Read More
Mr. Pone, with twenty-five years experience in his position as Guardian, is the longest serving member of the Innu Nation’s environment... Read More
David Wolfrey is an Inuk from Rigolet Nunatsiavut, where he still lives. He grew up as a hunter, trapper and fisher, and was raised to respect... Read More
Dr. Kirk has been a research scientist with the Aquatic Contaminants Research Division of Environment and Climate Change Canada... Read More
Dr. Bell (PhD Alberta 1992) is a University Research Professor in Geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland. For over three... Read More
Dr. Baikie is a public health physician who received a BSc in Pharmacy from the... Read More
Dr. Lean achieved a Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto in 1962 and a Ph.D in Zoology... Read More
Mr. McCarthy is an associate biologist with Amec Foster Wheeler. He achieved a B.Sc. in Biology from Memorial University of Newfoundland... Read More
Dr. Jansen has been an aquatic scientist with North/South Consultants Inc. in Winnipeg since 2001. From 1999-2009, he was a consulting/casual... Read More
The Independent Expert Advisory Committee (IEAC) was established as a result of an agreement reached by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Nunatsiavut Government, the Innu Nation and the NunatuKavut Community Council on October 25, 2016. The three Indigenous groups and the local population have concerns about the impact of methylmercury on country foods - which are important culturally, socially and to food security.
The IEAC consists of an oversight committee and a subcommittee called the Independent Expert Committee (IEC). The Oversight Committee (OC) has representatives from the following groups:
The Independent Chair, assisted by the Research Director, organizes and presides over meetings of the Oversight Committee (OC) and Independent Expert Committee (IEC) and ensures that the IEAC meets its objectives.
Following research and analysis of all relevant information, the members of the IEC discuss matters and provide recommendations to the OC by consensus. Where no consensus can be reached, dissenting opinions are attached to the recommendations made by a majority vote.
The Oversight Committee considers the recommendations put forward by the IEC, and decides whether or not to formally submit them to the responsible authorities (Ministers of the relevant Provincial and/or Federal Government departments). The OC operates by consensus of all members, including non-voting members. Where no consensus can be reached, dissenting opinions of all members, including the non-voting members, are attached to the majority vote. The Chair votes only in the event of a tie.
Once recommendations have been made by the Independent Expert Advisory Committee to the responsible Ministers and regulators, namely the provincial Ministers of Municipal Affairs and Environment and Service NL, and the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and any other appropriate responsible provincial or federal Minister, the Minister responsible for the matter in question has the final decision-making authority. It is ultimately up to him/her as to whether the recommendation will be accepted and implemented.
Mercury (chemical symbol Hg) is a naturally occurring metal present in soil, rocks, and water bodies. It exists in three different chemical forms: elemental, inorganic and organic. It can be released into the environment as a result of human activities including coal-fired power generation, metal mining, and flooding related to hydro-electric development.
Methylmercury is an organic form of mercury. It is formed when inorganic mercury combines with a methyl group, which is composed of carbon and hydrogen. Microscopic organisms (bacteria) in water and soil can convert inorganic mercury into the organic form of mercury, methylmercury, which can accumulate in predatory fish and other living things at the top of the food chain, such as seals. It may be present in some types of fish and marine mammals at levels that have the potential to effect human health.
It is well documented that the flooding of land during the creation of a reservoir for hydroelectric or other purposes leads to an increase in methylmercury concentrations in the reservoir water and organisms. Whereas the increase in water concentrations happens fast (days to weeks), elevated methylmercury concentrations in organisms, particularly fish, are reliably measured only after several months or years, depending on age of the organisms and their position in the food chain. In some cases, the effects of reservoir flooding have also been documented many kilometers downstream in the river, but often downstream effects are unknown. The maximum increase in methylmercury concentrations in fish varies among reservoirs. The amount of increase depends on the size of the area being newly flooded relative to the size of the entire reservoir, the type and amount of organic soils in the newly flooded area, the water residence time in the reservoir, and several other factors.
Mercury is a naturally occurring metal found everywhere in the environment. On land, inorganic mercury is found in vegetation and soils. Naturally occurring bacteria can change inorganic mercury into methylmercury, usually in low oxygen environments, such as the sediments of lakes and wetlands. When land is flooded, the flooded soils and vegetation are broken down or decomposed by bacteria, which use the organic matter (carbon) in the flooded soils and vegetation as food. The decomposition of the organic matter reduces the amount of oxygen, especially in deeper waters, and can lead to increases in methylmercury, which is released to the water. This newly produced methylmercury can then be taken up by organisms in the reservoir, or exported to downstream waterbodies.
Inorganic mercury in the environment can be transformed by certain types of bacteria into methylmercury. Methylmercury enters the food chain when it is taken up by organisms such as algae and small zooplankton. Once part of the food chain, methylmercury bioaccumulates in organisms that are higher in the food chain. Bioaccumulation occurs when organisms cannot eliminate a substance, such as mercury, as fast as they take it up from their food or surroundings. Methylmercury also biomagnifies. For example, large predatory fish are more likely to have high levels of mercury as a result of eating many smaller fish that have acquired mercury by eating small invertebrates called plankton.