A complete environmental assessment of the site for the 2007 Canada Winter Games athletes' village and its surroundings should have been completed prior to the start of clear cutting in the area.

Three Whitehorse residents made that argument at a public consultation meeting on Thursday afternoon.

The residents, from the Takhini North and Porter Creek areas, told EBA Engineering, Department of Community Services and Canada Winter Games representatives that their timelines just don't seem to make sense.

'I think we have a problem with the process,' said Erica Heuer, a Takhini North resident and past president of the area's community association. 'This is a project that's already underway.'

EBA Engineering Consultants Ltd. completed an environmental screening of the site and released the report on July 13.

The screening is meant to be completed at the preliminary engineering design stage. It summarizes the scope of the project, outlines basic environmentally sensitive priority issues and assesses if the project could have significant environmental impacts.

The screening also presents suggestions on how to mitigate various environmental concerns.

Yesterday's meeting was meant to focus on environmental issues only and to permit area residents to present any concerns they may have.

If the project is deemed to have significant adverse and unjustifiable environmental impacts, it's possible that the project can be sent for a complete environmental assessment.

JoAnne Harach, manager of special projects with the Department of Community Services, tried to explain that the environmental screening report was only meant to be the first step in the process of building the athletes' village.

'How can this be step one if the trees are already down?' asked Heuer.

'If we're already at the point where the site is being cleared for the project, I would say the project has already begun,' said Mac Hislop, a resident of Takhini North.

Kirn Dhillon, the environmental engineer who prepared the screening report, said the cutting had not occurred until after the screening was completed.

Carole Bookless, a member of the Porter Creek Community Association, argued that the clearing has been occurring for weeks.

However, Dhillon stated the area she was referring to is a section being set up for a power line and was under the jurisdiction of the Yukon Electrical Co. Ltd. (YECL).

YECL did not have a representative at the roundtable. Dhillon said it would be unfair to discuss those issues without the company present and was unprepared to speak for it.

'We can't talk about the power line, I'm sorry,' reinforced Harach.

'It's part of this project. Why aren't they here?' asked Heuer.

YECL said today the company was never asked to attend.

'It's my understanding that the meeting was called by the Canada Winter Games folks and we were not invited,' James Grattan, manager of customer service at YECL, said in an interview this morning.

But, Hislop said, it seemed pointless to be talking about the screening of a project that already had parts underway, referring to the cutting for the power line.

Bookless agreed, and stated the public consultation on the environment was happening when trees in the area had already been cleared.

Grattan said YECL would be happy to discuss any concerns residents have. He added the company went through government procedures to obtain a land use permit almost two months ago.

It was during that time frame that it would have been more appropriate for either the government or the public to come forward with environmental concerns.

Grattan maintained that the clearing was being conducted to minimize the environmental impact.

'When the planning was being done, we were definitely trying to minimize the amount of trees that would have to be removed,' said Grattan, adding that the cutting is following existing trails and a power line.

Harach said residents need to be conscious of the tight deadlines the athletes' village is working on. The project needs to be completed by Nov. 1, 2006 to allow for some test use prior to the Games' commencement on Feb. 24, 2007.

'Where I see a fundamental problem in this is that the project has already been launched,' said Hislop. 'There's a time constraint, and the YTG wants to move forward as quickly as possible. There's been no effort to bring local folk into the process.'

He added that when dealing with an issue as important as the environment, there should have been a larger window available for public discussion and public notification.

Notice of the meeting was only published in one local newspaper last Monday.

Mike Frasher, project manager for the village, told the roundtable that though the process is moving fairly quickly, it isn't being expatiated beyond what's normal for a project of this type.

Hislop said he wished the stakeholders had been identified and contacted prior to be beginning of the project.

The screening report was meant for just the Department of Community Services, said Dhillon. Permitting the public an opportunity to speak on it is a courtesy and an indication that there is a willingness to hear what public concerns are, he said.

'What's important to me is minimizing the environmental impact,' said Bookless.

She said she has concerns about the control of water and silt runoff, dust production, increased vehicle emissions, traffic noise, fertilizer seeping into area waterways, waste management, light pollution and new trails being cut into current green spaces.

Many of these issues are addressed in the environmental screening, but Hislop said the proposed impacts are 'seriously inadequate.'

The project's managers need to look at the whole-scale impacts on the area, the community and the environment, both during construction and into the future after the Games' conclusion on March 10, 2007, he said.

'You can't cherry-pick,' said Hislop. 'We need to understand these effects in a broad sense, and I don't think we're there yet.'

The environmental screening concludes by stating '...it is not anticipated that any significant or adverse immitigable residual impacts will result from this project.

'I don't see due consideration to each of these potential impacts,' said Hislop. A conclusion can't be drawn because the issues haven't been properly assessed, he added.

'Maybe you can't mitigate them all, but you can address them. You guys have got some work to do.'

The screening report and the concerns brought forth during the discussion will now be examined to determine if the project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

If it's decided that it does, it will be examined to see how certain it is that the impacts will occur, if they're justified and if there is public concern.

The report will then be referred to a mediator and a review panel facilitated by Community Services for re-examination.