Hay River (Aug 11/03) - The move is on to ship composted pig manure from Hay River to Yellowknife.

Since early July, two or three trucks a day have headed north with the leftovers from a closed pig farm. The material is destined to help remediate the Giant Mine site.

"Right now, about half of it's been moved," says Emery Paquin, director of the Environmental Protection Service with the GNWT.

In all, about 300-plus truckloads of material - approximately 2,800 cubic metres - will be moved, says Paquin. "We're talking about a substantial amount of material."

The manure is from the now-closed Northern Pork, about 20 kilometres south of Hay River.

Paquin expects the haul should be completed by the end of July or the beginning of September.

Transportation costs are being covered by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. The GNWT gave the material to DIAND for the mine reclamation project.

"We'd rather have the material used for reclamation than have it disposed of some place," Paquin explains.

Once all the composted material is moved, the site of a manure lagoon and the composting area will be inspected. Groundwater samples were taken in the spring and more tests will be done later this summer.

"We want to make sure the contamination has stopped," says Paquin, noting the spring testing found greatly decreasing levels of bacteria.

When the lagoon was full, bacteria and nutrients were moving towards the Hay River, but none actually reached the river.

Composting began in 2002.

Paquin says the site is still under lease to Northern Pork, but the lease is now in arrears. Once environmental clearance is given, the GNWT can move to take back the lease and the land could be used for other purposes.

Northern Pork operated at the site from 1988 to 1997. It closed after the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs launched legal action over concerns that manure management was contrary to the lease agreement.