'We've been bombarded'
Drybones Bay drilling project gets go-ahead from feds, courts, but Yellowknives determined to halt activity in area
Daniel Campbell
Northern News Services
Published Friday, May 30, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN) is still determined to halt a diamond drilling project in the Drybones Bay area, despite the fact that the project has survived a Federal Court review and received federal approval.
In November, Federal Court Judge Russel Zinn dismissed an application by the Yellowknives to quash a decision by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board to allow the project, dubbed "the Debogorski Diamond Exploration Project," to drill in the area.
Drybones Bay is about 50 km southeast of Yellowknife and considered culturally significant to the Yellowknives.
Dettah Chief Ed Sangris said while the project is expected to be small, it amounts to a "death by a thousand cuts" when other developments surrounding their traditional territory are taken into account.
"If you look at the big picture, north of us there's all these diamond mines that are taking place, west of us is Tlicho and south of us is the lake. So we're sort of caught right in the middle," said Sangris.
"Where else can we go to carry on our tradition, our way of life -- hunting and trapping and fishing?"
The Yellowknives have appealed the Federal Court decision, and expect be back in court fighting for Drybones Bay in the fall.
In the meantime, Alex Debogorski, the man behind the project, says any work in the area is on hold.
Debogorski filed his drilling application with the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board back in 2011, which was referred to the review board because the area already had a contentious history with project applications.
The application is the seventh project to undergo an environmental assessment in the area. Sangris believes the decision to allow the Debogorski project to go forward was influenced by previous approvals.
There are numerous archeological sites surrounding Debogorski's claim, including tent rings, hide drying racks and birch bark or toboggan presses. The shores of the bay are also a burial ground for the Yellowknives, Sangris said.
In January 2012, the board approved the project, ruling it was "not likely to have any significant adverse impact on the environment or be a cause of significant public concern."
The closest archaeological site to a drill site is 38 meters away, which satisfied the board's minimum standard of a 30-metre distance between any known archeological sites and drilling.
When the Federal Court held a special session in Yellowknife last April, The Yellowknives argued they weren't properly consulted by the Crown before the project was approved.
The Yellowknives were consulted three times while the decision was under review. First in a community information session in July 2011, next with a public hearing in September 2011 and finally with another community hearing in October 2011. Several Yellowknives spoke out against the project during the community hearings.
Erica Meekes, a spokesperson for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister Bernard Valcourt, said effective consultations can lead to "greater opportunities for aboriginal peoples and all Canadians to create jobs and economic growth."
The department said it will be reviewing the YKDFN application to appeal, but declined to comment further as the matter is still before the courts.
Even though the Yellowknives have a history of supporting development in their traditional lands in the past, Sangris said he's drawing the line at the Debogorski project.
"Let's face it - we've been bombarded ... so it's one of the last few places we see as significant to the Yellowknives' way of life," he said.
Because the Yellowknives have yet to settle any land claims with the government, they're more vulnerable than other First Nations when it comes to legal battles, Sangris said.
The battles are costly. In his November decision against the Yellowknives, Judge Zinn ordered they pay the federal government $18,920 in legal fees for the trouble the government went through to fight the case.
The federal department confirmed it will be seeking the costs awarded.
"We've got no other recourse than to fight it in court, which we don't really want. A lot of these things could be made by mutual agreements between aboriginals and non-aboriginals," Sangris said.
The proposed project would include drilling 10 holes to a depth of 90 metres over five years, as well as setting up camps and drawing up to 38,000 litres of water from the lake per day.
Much of the drilling is expected to take place over open water.
