Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 16/00) - Canadian Zinc Corporation will have to wait for a land-use permit on property near Nahanni Butte.

The company wants to re-open a 40-kilometre access road and relocate 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel to its Prairie Creek mine site. The fuel cache has existed for about 20 years, when the previous owners established the mine.

A Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board panel recently referred the company's application to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board for environmental assessment.

"The main reason was public concern, and that came from many different sources. It came from the Deh Cho First Nations, the Nahanni Butte First Nation, Parks Canada, CPAWS (Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society) ... there was a lot of mail," said Ken Weagle, the director of the land and water board.

Chuck Blyth, superintendent of Nahanni National Park Reserve, said Parks opposed the application because re-opening the access road would create environmental impacts. Blyth agrees the fuel cache should be cleaned up. A fuel leak during transport, or once the 10,000 gallon drums are relocated to the Prairie Creek mine site, could affect the South Nahanni watershed.

The review board may come up with a lower-risk solution such as a winter road that would have a stipulation for rehabilitation from any environmental impacts, he said.

"It's rational, good planning to take a look at what the alternatives are.

"They (Canadian Zinc) need a more careful analysis. It was their own statement that said there's no problem with the fuel tanks right now. If not, what's the rush," Blyth said.

Malcolm Swallow, president and CEO of Vancouver-based Canadian Zinc, said the review board's decision could delay the fuel clean-up until spring.

"Our concern is that there is an environmental liability out there," he said.

"We're prepared to clean it up but we can't do it unless someone gives us a permit to go fetch it."

Roland Semanjovs, review board communications officer, said the assessment could take up to a month or two.

Cost of clean-up

The clean-up would cost an estimated $100,000-$150,000, and the value of the fuel would nearly cover the cost of the operation, said Swallow.

Previous suggestions of burning the fuel on site would not only nullify the cost effectiveness of the project, but it would not be environmentally sound, he said.

He added Canadian Zinc intends to hasten the process as best it can by communicating with the review board and local First Nations.

Another 30,000-gallon cache exists elsewhere and Canadian Zinc would like to explore the possibility of a joint-venture with First Nations to remove it, said Swallow.

He added the company is aiming to have Prairie Creek mine operational within two years. That goal is not affected by the assessment decision.

"It's not altering my basic plans for what we're doing on the project," he said. "We'll chug through the process."

The Prairie Creek mine site is about 90 kilometres northeast of Nahanni Butte. Zinc, silver, lead and copper deposits have been found through previous exploration.