Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 22/02) - RTL Trucking is not illegally parking on a pond behind its property, and it is not polluting the environment.

That response comes from several government agencies, after a complaint from a Yellowknife citizen.

RTL clears off a frozen pond behind its property for marshalling and parking trucks in the winter. The large parking area is ideal for the volumes of trucks that come through Yellowknife carrying goods for the mines, and RTL has been using the space for some 15 years.

But in a letter to Yellowknife council, Lee-Anne Tomkins expressed concern that RTL's use of the pond may not be legal.

"Are they paying rent? ... For RTL to be able to just appropriate this space simply because it's adjacent to their property is preposterous," she wrote.

She also wondered about the environmental impact. "To say that it is smelly and noisy ... is a gross understatement; but I can't imagine that all of the fumes, fluids, etc. emitted by these vehicles can be good for the surrounding area."

But according to the government, RTL is in the clear on both accounts.

"There is no requirement to get permission to park on ice," said Annette McRobert, director of operations for the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

And the truck parking does not concern fishery officer Gerald Fillatre, who examined the site and spoke with a manager there.

"I have no concerns ... because they're not storing stuff there, they're just marshalling the trucks," he said. "They keep a pretty close eye on spills and whatnot."

RTL president Marvin Robinson said the company is "very conscious" about the lake. Before the pond melts every year, the company scrapes off the top layer of ice and brings it to a contaminated waste site for processing.