The major source of arsenic in the air we breathe is from the smoke stack at Giant mine -- this according the a report released by a government task force.

The task force and workshop process, organized by the Health Canada's environment protection branch, said only invited participants could attend the two-day workshop.

The media were not allowed in the workshop portion "because there are some representatives who did not feel they could speak freely," said facilitator Donald MacDonald of MacDonald Environmental Sciences Limited.

Royal Oak Mines, the owner of Giant, was present at the workshop as observers, but has no concrete plans to deal with the arsenic issue, sources who attended the workshop said.

Kevin O'Reilly, research director of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, said he's been following this issue for more than six years now, and "there really is no safe level of arsenic in the environment."

And, he believes, the regulatory issues will not be settled before the end of the life of Giant mines.

O'Reilly isn't the only one. Wayne Gamble of the Royal Oak occupational health and safety committee, Elaine Berthelett, president of the local branch of Public Health Association, and former city alderman John Dalton also expressed frustration.

MLA's viewpoint differs

But Seamus Henry, MLA for Yellowknife South, didn't have the same point of view regarding the health issues after the public consult session last Tuesday.

"I was reassured that the arsenic in the air is not a great health risk for the residents of Yellowknife," he said.

What Henry is concerned about and wants further investigation into is the underground arsenic storage facility at the mine site.

The task force and Royal Oak "are maintaining the status quo by not addressing the issue of the underground storage," he said.

And, he added, "there are 250 people employed with the mine who are exposed to a higher level."

The task force was established in the fall of 1995 to address the efficiency of the current pollution control systems, determine the existing amounts of arsenic coming from the stack and the concentration amounts in the air we breath in the air.

Arsenic releases to the environment is not regulated in the NWT, nor are they being examined by the federal or territorial levels of government.

Because of this, the task force has determined that, in the NWT, atmospheric releases of arsenic to the environment from gold roasting warrant the highest priority for federal action, according to the summary report released at the public consultation meeting.

The task force was also directed to access management options and make recommendations to the federal government.

Environmental arsenic levels "are significantly higher than most places in Canada --exceeding regulatory levels in the U.S.A.," O'Reilly said.

"No level of arsenic in the environment is acceptable," he said.

Option 1

Maintain status quo

Controls to arsenic releases to the air and water should remain the same.

Option 2

Conduct further studies

Investigations should include a fixed time for completion, studies that show the environmental effects and if it is determined that environmental effects exist, action should be taken to reduce arsenic emissions.

Option 3

A regulated performance agreement

The government should draft a regulatory agreement which should specify a concentration

limit, set a time frame for complying with and require appropriate testing to reduce arsenic releases.

Structured voluntary agreement

The federal government would initiate an agreement with Giant Mines to reduce the amount of atmospheric release of arsenic to the environment.

Multi-faceted structured voluntary agreement

The government should negotiate an agreement with the mine which would address all environmental health issues. This would include the underground storage and any other relavent environmental issue.

Covenant

The federal government should initiate a negotiation with the mine to address several environmental issues. The parties to the agreement would include Royal Oak and the affected communities. The territorial government may also need to sign the agreement given the jurisdictional nature of some of the issues. This option is also legally binding in a court of law.