SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
An NWT soccer group is wary of a city proposal to build a soccer field over a former tailings pond at Con Mine - not out of fear over arsenic contamination but because cleanup might take too long.
Ryan Fequet, president of the NWT Soccer Association, who is also a regulatory mine specialist with the Wek'eezhi Land and Water Board, says the association doesn't have any safety concerns but is concerned about the length of time it will take to clean up the site.
"For a final hand-off to the city, it would have to be pretty stringent criteria," said Fequet. "Until then we would have no idea until we see what level it is remediated to.
"It has nothing to do with safety in particular. I haven't even heard that concern."
The Newmont Mining Company is currently remediating the former gold mine, which closed in 2003.
Most of the arsenic sludge in the tailings ponds has already been removed with the plan to fill them back up with gravel and sand and vegetation planted at top.
City Councillor Dan Wong asked for an update on the city's search for suitable outdoor soccer field location Monday after Fequet sent an e-mail to council seeking an update. Fequet approached council last August asking city staff to look into locating an up to $1.5 million regulation-sized field somewhere in town.
The city's solution appears to be putting a field atop a capped-off tailings pond at Con Mine, although an exact location has not been identified yet.
Council set aside $90,000 in the 2013 budget for developing a design for an outdoor recreation facility at Con Mine. Mayor Mark Heyck said the Con Mine site has been considered for the last few years.
"For the last two or three years, we have been looking at it," said Heyck.
"Because once the tailings ponds are capped, it wouldn't be possible to put any other type of development there. A low impact recreational use would be one of the few things that we could do. Because it is a wide open flat space, it would be fairly ideal for that kind of application."
Acting senior administrative officer Dennis Kefalas said if most of the remediation work can be completed this summer, as he expects it will be, work could begin very soon.
Fequet said he is concerned about the timeliness because he wants to have the field ready when Canada hosts the women's FIFA World Cup in 2015.
Kefalas said with the Con Mine site, that date is not unreasonable.
"That is not an unrealistic time frame, but we would still have to go through the budget process and look at what is the best for the city to do," said Kefalas.
Fequet said his association can begin a fundraising campaign once a location has been approved by the city, plus look to other orders of government for help.
"Money isn't actually the biggest hurdle," said Fequet this week. "It is just getting the commitment from the city and the location. If there is one in the city that works for everybody, that is great and we can move ahead. We can refine the costs, campaign, get a (request for proposals) out and have a contractor to get it built."
In his view, a future field would be covered with artificial grass made by the company Field Turf, and would provide enough space for a growing number of soccer players, including high performance athletes seeking a spot to practise.
Coun. Bob Brooks said Con Mine would be an ideal location for a new soccer field.
"The long term for that area is to remediate it and don't do any development on it," said Brooks. "You would remediate it and that would be the perfect spot for a soccer pitch."
