Yellowknife (Feb 16/05) - The epilogue to the massive Giant Mine civil suit began Monday as lawyers argued over who should be responsible for more than a decade of court costs and legal fees.

The families of nine men killed at Giant in 1992 are seeking nearly $5.7 - about 60 per cent of what it cost to argue one of the longest civil trials in Canadian history.

A Supreme Court Justice awarded the families $11 million in damages last December after ruling a host of defendants - including the territorial government, a security firm, a national union and a mining company - were liable for the deaths of the nine miners.

The men were killed on Sept. 18, 1992, when their rail car triggered a homemade bomb, planted nearly 750 feet below the surface by striking miner Roger Warren.

The murders occurred in the midst of a violent labour dispute between mine owner Royal Oak Ventures and the workers' union.

More than a dozen lawyers packed a conference room in the Yellowknife Inn - converted into a temporary courtroom - Monday for opening arguments in the cost hearing.

Jeffrey Champion, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the group of six defendants was responsible for lengthy delays in the case, including several stoppages during the eight month trial which featured 65 witnesses.

"We have hauled a lot of muck over the last 10 years," said Champion, standing beside a four-foot high stack of binders containing the most recent arguments from the defence. "This is what we were up against."

Attorneys for the defendants are expected to argue the plaintiffs demands are unreasonable and will suggest a lower figure to Justice Arthur Lutz.

The justice presided over the civil trial as well. The hearing is scheduled to last through Friday.