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The ghost of mining past

Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, June 8, 2011

RANKIN INLET - The length of time the remnants of a mining project can continue to trouble a community is becoming painfully clear in Rankin Inlet.

NNSL photo/graphic

Yannick Lanthier and Philip Tibble, right, take spectral readings while studying the area near the old North Rankin Nickel Mine this past summer. - photo courtesy of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada

A resident complained to the Government of Nunavut (GN) about five years ago when yellow dust was noticed out on the land.

The concern made its way to Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), which will undertake a restoration project at the site this coming month.

The North Rankin Nickel Mine operated from 1957 until 1962.

Remedial work was done at the site between 1992-94, co-funded by INAC and Environment Canada.

The project was undertaken in partnership with the NWT's Municipal and Community Affairs, through the Action on Waste office in Yellowknife.

Contaminated sites project director Natalie Plato was in Rankin this past week to bring the community up to speed on the project.

Plato said the biggest undertaking in 1992-94 was to clean up the tailings.

She said the tailings were excavated and placed in deep tailings ponds near the community's baseball diamond.

"All the tailings were scraped up and placed in the deep pond with a metre of clean fill put on top," said Plato.

"Our records from that time are a little sketchy, so that was the best I could find.

"A note was found in the report indicating they didn't complete the cover during the first restoration project and it would require additional covering.

"We don't know why they didn't complete it at that time, and it's hard to find complete documentation on it."

A records review and quick site visit were done

in 2009, which led to a full-site investigation in July of 2010.

Test pitting was done and multiple soil samples taken, as well as mussel samples in the intertidal zone.

A small area of exposed tailings were found, which will be covered by 7,000 cubic metres of fill this summer.

Exposed tailings generate concern over exposure to the heavy metals they generally contain.

However, a land-based human health risk assessment conducted at the site indicated no health risks.

Plato said INAC commits to monitoring a site for 25 years.

She said some monitoring on the Rankin tailings ponds has been done intermittently since 1992 with thermometers, which monitor temperature to ensure the site has frozen back.

"Now we'll come up with a more aggressive long-term monitoring plan to implement for the next 25 years, and then re-evaluate if it's still required.

"We take climate change data into consideration when we do our designs and try to use the most accurate predictions.

"But they're just predictions, so we monitor to ensure everything we build or design stands the test of time.

"If we see any issues, we address them."

A composite of 34 mussels was used to produce one mussel sample in 2010.

With that sample showing elevated levels of contamination, extensive mussel sampling will be done this summer to ensure the 2010 results were accurate.

Samples will also be taken of other sea life.

Plato said INAC won't know the full extent of the Rankin situation until after this summer's sampling.

She said the exposed land tailings are not leaking into the tidal zone, and INAC suspects they were knowingly deposited there during mining operations.

"We'd have to address what to do with the tailings if we find actual impacts to the mussels or anything else there.

"That would be done in conjunction with Fisheries and Oceans, the GN and other authorities.

"The area where we suspect elevated levels in the mussels is also right where the town deposits its sewage outfall, so we'll have to take that into account."

INAC classifies sites using a system developed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.

The system generally employs Class 1 to Class 3 categories of sites, with Class 1 being high priority, Class 2 medium and Class 3 low.

Plato said the Rankin site is Class 1, making it a high priority because of its proximity to the community and shellfish potential.

She said a health advisory has been issued against consuming mussels within 300 metres of the shoreline at the site.

"Any liability with the original owner concerning this is certainly gone and INAC has, pretty much, assumed the liability for the land-based side.

"There could be, perhaps, ocean issues that may be up for discussion."

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