Yellowknife (Feb 26/03) - Despite a two-day presentation on Giant Mine arsenic last month, members of a local liaison group charged with consulting the public say many people are still confused.

That's why the Giant Mine Community Alliance is hoping for a large turnout at a public meeting at city hall tomorrow. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.

"From what I've seen so far there seems to be a lot of mistrust," said Kris Johnson, who represents the North Slave Metis Alliance. "They (Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development) have done some consultations but I don't feel like the people are at where the Giant Mine project is at yet."

Alliance co-chair Steve Petersen said he has even heard people complain that they should send the arsenic back to where it came from.

"They don't know it's been here all the time, just in another form," said Petersen.

The alliance, with six members representing the community on board so far, signed their terms of reference with DIAND last week. Petersen said while they didn't get everything they wanted, the group won't merely be a "lapdog" to the federal department. Their job is to hear public concerns and facilitate discussions with them.

Unfortunately, they have a short time to consult and make recommendations. DIAND is expected to take the matter of cleaning up Giant Mine before senior government officials in early May.

DIAND is currently working with two proposals: either mix the 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide stored underneath Giant Mine with concrete at $257 million or freezing at a cost of $106 million. Both options would leave the arsenic underground.

"Our role is to try and de-mystify it, get the public to hopefully trust us more than they do DIAND," said Petersen. "Because even if DIAND comes up and tells them something they really treat them with a fair amount of skepticism."

DIAND will not be attending the meeting in an official capacity. Bill Mitchell, Giant Mine project manager with DIAND, however, said the department is working intensely to consult with the public.

They've been holding sessions in recent weeks at Aurora College, local schools, and in the community, including Ndilo and Dettah.

"We've made a real effort the last little while to get people to attend these meetings," said Mitchell.

"We're basically telling people what the situation is, and the different management methods the technical advisor has recommended to manage the problem in the future."