Yellowknife (Oct 29/04) - Jurisdictional wrangling between Ottawa and the territorial government have kept the surface clean-up of Giant Mine on the back burner, says Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development (RWED) Minister Brendan Bell.

Clean-up talks for the surface of Giant Mine have stalled while Ottawa and the territorial government battle over who should pay for it. - Mike W. Bryant/NNSL photo

The governments are still negotiating how much each will have to chip in, he said.

The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) is responsible for underground clean-up and insists the GNWT is at least partially responsible for remediating the surface area of the mine, much of which is on Commissioner's land, said Bell.

"We've been in discussions for quite some time about who is responsible and who is liable for what," said Bell.

"We've been quite bogged down."

He said the GNWT is willing to worry about the fine print later, as long as the clean-up can begin now.

"There will be plenty of time for us to debate the arguments back and forth about responsibility and liability but priority No.1 is to clean up the mess that's out there," said Bell.

Cost unknown

He couldn't say how much money it might cost to clean the mine site up.

Little has changed on the surface of the mine since it closed in July.

Bell said the GNWT wants to see the land cleaned up to "industrial standards," although he wouldn't say whether that meant the removal of buildings and other structures from the site, many of which are more than 50 years old.

He said the Giant property is still subject to land claim negotiations with the Yellowknives Dene and its fate will likely involve discussions with them and perhaps the City of Yellowknife who may also want the property later down the road.

A 1998 EBA Engineering report found arsenic contamination on the surface around Giant Mine more prevalent than practically anywhere else in the Yellowknife area. They concluded that it originated from decades of smelting operations at the mine, which emitted arsenic through the smoke stack.

A spokesperson with DIAND said the department won't comment while negotiations are continuing.

Great Slave MLA Bill Braden said he is concerned the clean-up issue will drag on indefinitely into "bureaucratic limbo-land."

"The worst possible scenario is the Sidney tar ponds (in Nova Scotia)," said Braden.

"For decades nobody did anything. It was a horrendous mess. Why wasn't something done years ago? Because bureaucracies couldn't agree."

Keep the headframes

Walt Humphries, a member of the NWT Mining Heritage Society, said it's his preference that at least some of the old buildings remain standing for posterity's sake. The group is hoping to establish a museum in the mine's old recreation hall by next year.

"Just as a general thing, the more headframes the better," said Humphries.