Bill Mitchell shows off one of two models to go on display at Yellowknife malls this month as part of the public consultation on cleaning up Giant Mine. - Darren Stewart/NNSL photo

The Dettah councillor spoke out at a workshop held Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss recommendations on what to do with the approximately 237,000 tons of arsenic trioxide buried underneath Giant Mine.

Speaking through a translator, Baillargeon demanded that the consultants and Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development representatives consider long-term environmental impact and proper compensation for the Dettah as part of the cleanup process.

"How would you feel if we came to your land and contaminated all the animals and water," he asked. Baillargeon said a solution had to address compensation for the years that Dettah had to live on toxic lands.

"The caribou eats the green of this land and many of us feel the meat could be unsafe for our health.

"The water is no good and even 50 years from now, what's going to happen with the water?

Federal government consultant Dave Nutter called Baillargeon's concern the "heart and soul of the discussion."

"We will certainly be taking these concerns into account here," he said.

The two options the workshop participants discussed are freezing the arsenic underground at an estimated cost of $106 million or mixing it with cement and keeping it in a landfill site a $252 million.

"Our prime objective is to ensure the health and safety of the people living in the Yellowknife area," said Bill Mitchell, mine project manager.

Mitchell refused to disclose what DIAND paid mining specialists SRK consultants for the study, saying the amount is "confidential."

The proposal underwent an independent peer review before this week's meeting and will now be brought to the public in a series of town meetings and information sessions over the next two months.

DIAND will be in Ndilo on Jan. 22 and Dettah on Jan. 23.

Mitchell said the department is still far from ready to implement the massive cleanup plan.

"We're just scratching the surface here."

"There will be plenty more opportunity for community input during the environmental assessment."