Fort Simpson (Oct 17/03) - The Deh Cho First Nations is going to court to fight a water licence issued to Prairie Creek mine.

The DCFN filed for a judicial review in Federal Court in Vancouver on Oct. 10.

The licence was granted by the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board a month earlier. Yet there were problems identified with the mine's tailings pond that have not been rectified as stipulated by another regulatory agency, according to Chris Reid, chief negotiator for the DCFN.

"The tailings pond is in bad shape. The liner in it is not intact," Reid said. "It puts the whole South Nahanni watershed at risk in our view if this (mine) operates in its current condition."

It's a claim that Canadian Zinc's chairman is disputing.

John Kearney said he believes all of the Environmental Impact Review Board's recommendations were incorporated in Prairie Creek mine's water licence.

"So we're still trying to understand what exactly the alleged deficiencies are, if any. But if there are some we'll see how they can be addressed," Kearney said Tuesday.

He noted that the licence is quite limited in scope. It's possible, he suggested, that the First Nations have misgivings about activities that were originally included in the draft permit but ultimately were never granted.

"We don't really have a permit to deposit waste. We're not intending during the next phase of operations to deposit any waste," he said. "To the extent that the concerns may relate to that, perhaps they are applicable to the licence."

A meeting with the Nahanni Butte Dene Band, planned for next week, will go ahead as planned, Kearney said.

Mine work relating to the test plant and decline isn't scheduled to get under way until spring, he noted.

The operation is located 14 kilometres from Nahanni National Park Reserve's boundaries.

Melody McLeod, chair of the Land and Water Board, said Tuesday that she had not received any notice of the court action.

"So I'm not in a position to comment and it would be unfair to do so until I've had an opportunity to review (it)," McLeod said.