Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 25/00) - It comes as little surprise that Royal Oak Mines, which owned the Giant Mine, tops the NWT-Nunavut section of a 1998 national pollution report, says Kevin O'Reilly.

"Royal Oak topped the list because of production of arsenic," O'Reilly, research director for the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, said.

According to the Ministry of the Environment's 1998 national pollutant release inventory report, Giant Mine generated 1,725.1 tonnes of arsenic in 1998 (4.8 tonnes into the air, half a tonne into water and 1,719.8 tonnes were stored underground).

Although the data is a year-and-a-half old, it was only recently released. With the shutdown of the Giant Mine roaster last year, the last one operating in Canada, arsenic production has stopped and "that's a comfort for everybody (but) we still have to deal with the underground arsenic," O'Reilly said.

Arsenic is classified as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and assessed a toxic substance under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

O'Reilly adds that after decades of arsenic pollution, he is concerned about any move by the city to acquire Giant Mine leases. The city is considering a marina at Giant Mine waterfront property.

As well as arsenic, Giant Mine released 21.1 tonnes of ammonia (a result of explosives use) into the water.

At the Con Mine, 16 tonnes of ammonia were released into the water and 2.3 tonnes of hydrogen cyanide, resulting from ventilation of leach tanks, was released into the air.

Miramar Mining spokesperson Brian Labadie said the amounts are "not violation events" and they span a year. It is not 2.3 tonnes of hydrogen cyanide in 10 seconds, he said.

Miramar takes the release of substances seriously, he adds. The goal is to stay within water licence limits and reduce releases by recycling water within the plant but there are limits on how much substances can be reduced, he said.

Nationally, Yk's gold mines, producing 1,764.5 tonnes of pollution in 1998, were responsible for one per cent of the 159,620-tonne national total.

In 1998, Giant produced 17 times as much arsenic as the Maritime Provinces. Arsenic is among seven metals naturally occurring in coal used at Maritime power generating stations.

Art Beckett, Environment Canada's senior toxic substances officer, said the public inventory is intended to be used as a tool "to get people looking and asking questions."

He adds that Royal's Oak's numbers are "aberrant." While the arsenic is stored underground, it does represent a discharge to the environment, per se, he said. Ideally, the arsenic stored underground will be removed and treated.

Beckett also said Environment Canada is attempting to improve the timing of the annual reports. Facilities meeting certain criteria are required to report all pollution releases.