The Liberia Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given Ivanhoe Atlantic (formerly High-Power Exploration/HPX) the notice to proceed with its Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the transportation of iron ore from Guinea through Liberia via the Yekepa Rail to Port of Buchanan.
The Company has been given the greenlight to commence with the full scale ESIA and Scoping just as final negotiations with the Inter-Ministerial Concessions Committee (IMCC) is said to be concluding.
This is a clear indication that the long awaited multiuser access to Liberia’s rail infrastructure is likely to be underway soon, as the Company is reportedly aggressively proceeding with its ESIA. President Joseph Boakai has issued an Executive Order (EO136) in support of multi-user rail access with an independent operator, and it is now Government policy and basis for all future iron ore negotiations requiring use of national rail assets.
A project of this magnitude according to the EPA in a recent letter to the management of Ivanhoe Liberia, the local subsidiary of Ivanhoe Atlantic requires a full ESIA after the project brief was submitted to the EPA for its initial review. Therefore, as required, the Company has now issued a public notice of the ESIA commencement. According to the public notice, which is in the possession of the Daily Observer, it was disclosed that Earth time Inc., an accredited and authorized EPA Consultant was selected by Ivanhoe Liberia to carry out the studies.
When reached for comments, Mr. Henrique Caine, Country Manager of Ivanhoe Atlantic confirmed the public notice was issued by him based on the EPA’s ESIA directive. According to him, “late last year, upon notification by the EPA to proceed with full ESIA, we sent a Request for Expression of Interest (REOI) to all accredited EPA Consulting firms and seven firms responded out of 18. We shortlisted and conducted evaluations, internal reviews and technical assessments.
After our vetting process, Earth time was eventually selected as best suited for the current needs of the project. There will be more procurement opportunities when we have to develop Environmental Management Plans and when we move into phase 2 for the much larger project, but for now, Earth time is conducting the ESIA, and we look forward to working with them to deliver a quality product that meets all the required standards.”
The ESIA according to the public notice will focus on areas that have been identified by the company for its cross-border transhipment operations, including for the construction of loading facilities in Nimba and the shipping logistics and operations in the Port of Buchanan. Studies and field work will include physical, biological and social surveys, as well as community stakeholder engagements along the rail corridor in Nimba, Bong and Grand Bassa that are likely to be impacted by the project.
The Observer also learned that the Company has formally written the Ministry of Mines and Energy as well as the Ministry of Transport to inform them of the EPA requirements of the Company and seek assistance to ensure that Earth time Consultants have access to areas that may fall on the ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) Concession but are not operational areas.
An ESIA according to experts in the environmental field is a critical step in any major project development process, especially when it comes to major infrastructure works. The EPA will provide its final approval decision on the studies once they are completed and presented in the coming months.
