Arsenic waste tarped for the winter
Storage for debris from roaster complex doesn't follow approved plan, says environmental watchdog
Laura Busch
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, December 18, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Contrary to the approved plan to dismantle the Giant Mine roaster complex - the most arsenic-contaminated above-ground buildings at the mine site - arsenic-contaminated material is being stored under tarps at the Giant Mine site for the winter.
In its water licence application, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada stated that all waste from the roaster complex would be double-bagged in heavy-duty metre-cubed sacks, and then "placed in pre-engineered and prefabricated temporary storage buildings erected on the temporary waste storage area to provide secondary protection against damage from wind, rain, ultraviolet sunlight and snow."
However, this didn't happen.
A total of 2,301 bags holding an estimated two-million kilograms of waste - including arsenic, asbestos and construction materials - were filled during the dismantling of the roaster complex, which wrapped up for the winter in mid-November. Of those, 1,529 bags are stored in sea cans near one of the tailings ponds at the mine site, while the remaining 772 bags were placed on pallets and wrapped nearby in tarps, known as environmental liners in the industry.
"What was the rush to tear this down if we didn't actually have a proper way to store this material?" asked Kevin O'Reilly, member of environmental watchdog group Alternatives North. "I think it does raise questions about the urgency of all of this."
Last May, the Giant Mine Remediation Team declared an emergency, seeking and acquiring permission to tear down the nine buildings that make up the roaster complex before the environmental assessment on the mine clean-up project was completed.
Jane Amphlett, operations manager for the Giant Mine clean-up project, maintains this was still the right call.
"This stuff is way more safe in these bags contained in our storage area than in dilapidated buildings," she told Yellowknifer.
That is not to say the current storage situation is ideal, but Amphlett pressed that these are not your ordinary tarps sheltering the waste from the winter elements.
"We did use tarps - but it's not like a Canadian Tire tarp. It's a very durable environmental liner," she said, adding using the tarps for the winter was always the contingency plan.
O'Reilly said he is skeptical.
"We all know that as it gets colder, things get much more brittle and more susceptible to punctures or tears, and we don't want this stuff pouring out onto the ground," he said.
Where the waste is being stored should prevent it from contaminating the environment if a leak did happen during the spring runoff, Amphlett said. The temporary storage area is near one of the sites tailings ponds, and any runoff water would be collected to be processed.
"It's nowhere near Baker Creek," she said.
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada is currently seeking stakeholder input as it prepares to ask the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board to amend the approved plan to allow for the new temporary storage solution.
That said, the remediation team doesn't recommend moving the waste storage bags until after the spring thaw, said Amphlett.
"We would definitely not want to move them," she said.
Work to continue to dismantle the roaster complex is scheduled to begin again in the spring.
