Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Jun 18/01) - A proposal to build NWT's third diamond mine must go through a detailed environmental review.
The De Beers Snap Lake mine has been referred to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board because of acid runoff fears in the hamlet of Lutsel K'e.
"It's such a concern because the whole area is the breadbasket of Chipewyan people. It's a resource-rich place of spiritual significance," said Steve Ellis, Lutsel K'e's wildlife and environment co-ordinator. De Beers' plan, he added, has "all sorts of holes."
Ellis said he suspects the company rushed to get a plan on paper, knowing it would require detailed review in any event.
De Beers officials did not respond to request for an interview.
Ellis said alarm bells started sounding for the community when a consultant concluded that acid runoff at the Ekati diamond mine is worse than initially reported by owner BHP. Acid forms when water comes into contact with kimberlite rock piles.
The consultant, Kevin Morin, was hired by the Independent Environmental Monitoring Agency.
Ellis said acid runoff harms aquatic ecosystems. "It's unclear in their documentation how (De Beers) will deal with the acidification," he said.
The Snap Lake site is just south of the Diavik mine, which is due to open in 2003. Snap Lake is in a different watershed, taking water in a wide loop that goes south and empties into Great Slave Lake's East Arm through Artillery Lake and the Lockhart River, which hold spiritual meaning for the Lutsel K'e band.
De Beers wants to build an underground mine, but Ellis questioned the company's plan to pile 40 per cent of the kimberlite on the ground and backfill the remaining 60 per cent down the mine shafts.
Beneath the surface "they have no idea where the groundwater is," Ellis said, noting that permafrost will not stop leaks from the 40 per cent piled on the surface, because the area's permafrost is absent in patches.
A spokesman for the Environmental Impact Review Board said "not all developments go through the environmental assessment process. For that matter, most applications stay within the regulatory process."
Roland Semjanovs added that he doesn't yet know how long a review will delay the project.
This will be the first time the environmental impact review board has taken on assessing a new diamond mine. NWT's first two diamond mines, Ekati and Diavik, were reviewed by the federal government before the board was set up in 1998.
The board did handle an environmental review of Ekati's expansion, a process that took 18 months.
