by Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 12/97) - What should Royal Oak do with the thousands of tonnes of toxic arsenic trioxide stored underground at its Giant mine?

The public will get a chance to have a say early in the new year at a NWT Water Board hearing on a water licence renewal application.

Questions remain, however, about whether the board is up to the task of dealing with the arsenic issue.

The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development signed off Tuesday on its screening of the application and recommended it go to the next regulatory phase.

The arsenic issue can be dealt with through the water board, Jim McCaul, head of regulatory approvals with the Department of Indian and Norther Affair's water resources arm, said.

DIAND will make submissions through that process, he added.

But Kevin O'Reilly, an alderman and environmental watchdog for the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, said the government needs to know more about the impact of the arsenic.

"Until DIAND has that, how can DIAND screen that application?" The "onus is on DIAND to do the screening," he said.

The GNWT has a similar concern. Environmental assessment analyst Kelly McKee said in a Nov. 4 letter to DIAND projects officer Greg Cook that the territorial Department of Resources has reviewed the water licence application and is "of the opinion that the application contains sufficient information to proceed to the NWT Water Board on all issues except that of arsenic trioxide management."

In the same letter, McKee said RWED wants everything but the arsenic matter forwarded to the water board.

RWED wants to know how DIAND plans to further review the issue under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

O'Reilly also has concerns about the state of Royal Oak's abandonment and restoration plan in case of future shutdown.

Royal Oak has set aside only $400,000 for closure costs. The estimated cost of the removing the arsenic is in the millions of dollars, however.

The current water board licence, issued May 1, 1993, expires April 30.

A huge decline in gold prices has raised questions about the viability of the mine. This in turn raises questions about safe management of the arsenic trioxide, which is generated by the processing of gold ore.

If the mine is closed and left to flood, leaving the arsenic underground is unsatisfactory, McCaul said. "There is known technology to remove it (but) it's expensive," McCaul said, noting that about 260,000 tonnes are stored at the 60-metre level.

The water board is expected to issue a short-term licence with stringent conditions attached.

Under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, DIAND must conduct an environmental assessment and screening of Royal Oak's water licence for Giant.