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Giant asks for 10 more years
by Doug Ashbury
NNSL (Jan 30/98) - The fate of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of toxic waste buried near Yellowknife is at stake as the NWT Water Board hears an application for a new licence for Giant mine.
The board's public hearings on Royal Oak Mines' application for a 10-year renewal of its water licence were held Wednesday and Thursday at the Explorer Hotel. A big concern is what to do with 260,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide-bearing dust stored in the mine. Royal Oak said by May 1, 2000, it will provide a proposal to the water board on how it plans to deal with the arsenic.
Also scheduled to make submissions were federal officials from the departments of Indian and Northern Affairs, Fisheries and Oceans and Environment; GNWT departments of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development and Health; NWT Enviro Watch; and Yellowknife resident and frequent Giant mine critic Dave Talbot.
It could take four to eight weeks for the board to rule on the water licence, according to board chair Gordon Wray.
Giant's current licence expires at the end of March. |