SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A system to pump out water from Giant Mine received an engineering award last month.

Three workers stand near one of two lift pumps located 750 feet below the Akaitcho mine shaft, which lifts water to the surface. (photo taken during a community tour April 2008) - Photo courtesy of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada

The Consulting Engineers of Alberta awarded AECOM Canada an award of excellence in the natural resources, mining and industrial category for the system that pumps underground water to the surface and away from stored arsenic trioxide – a by-product from decades of smelting ore at the mine site.

"They had an engineering challenge," said Mayor Gord Van Tighem, a member of the Giant Mine Community Alliance, a coalition of individuals established in 2003 who endeavour to inform the public about the mine's remediation and relay any public concerns back to the mine's clean-up team.

"They came up with a way that people felt was enough to win a provincial award so that's a good thing," he said. "I don't know what the system is, but it shows that even when you're dealing with a bad situation, you can come up with good things."

Some 237,000 tonnes of toxic arsenic trioxide dust is stored in 14 underground chambers and mined-out cavities at Giant Mine. Since arsenic trioxide is water soluble, water in the mine must stay below the chamber levels to prevent contaminated water from leaving the mine.

The federal government hired AECOM Canada in 2005 to plan and design the pump system, which was completed in November 2008 and operational in time for the spring runoff. The company, which has an office in Edmonton, designed a system that pumps mine water from below the Akaitcho shaft to a holding pond on the surface. To do this, two new electrical substations had to be built and space had to be made for the system, which was assembled underground. The system pumps about 275 cubic metres of water an hour. The water at the holding pond is then treated at the water treatment plant during the summer before its discharge into Yellowknife Bay.

"This project demonstrates Canada's commitment to ensuring excellence in engineering for both the ongoing care and maintenance and remediation of the site," said Trish Merrithew-Mercredi, regional director general of Indian and Northern Affairs. "The health and safety of the public and the protection of the environment continue to be a priority for the Giant Mine Remediation Project."

The Consulting Engineers of Alberta represent 75 Alberta engineering firms that employ more than 8,000 people. At least three independent judges used a scoring system to rank the three projects in the natural resources, mining and industrial category.

The annual award, which consists of a framed work of art, was given Feb. 5.