Yellowknives Dene complain not enough being done to prevent Giant Mine contamination from reaching community; feds say dust does not pose 'immediate risk'
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Friday, May 22, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A cloud of dust filmed sailing across Back Bay has prompted the Yellowknives Dene First Nation to cry foul at the federal department tasked with cleaning up Giant Mine.
A cloud of dust blowing across Back Bay during a period of high wind last week has members of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation in Ndilo complaining their community is being covered in potentially toxic tailings dust – which could contain arsenic – when tailings ponds at Giant Mine are dry. - from YouTube
Former Ndilo chief Fred Sangris said a video uploaded to YouTube shows a cloud of particulate from tailings ponds at the site being blown across the water toward Ndilo during a period of high wind last week.
Sangris said high winds during spring are an annual occurrence and he feels those behind the ongoing remediation project at the arsenic-contaminated site need to do a better job of keeping dust from flying around.
Wind gusts on May 15 were reported to have reached speeds of 69 km/h, according to Environment Canada.
"It's a health hazard," said Sangris. "They've been doing a lot of work. But they're not focusing on the fine dust."
Sangris said the dust has been flying across the bay during the spring winds for years but not enough is being done to let people know about potential risks.
"We complain about it year after year," he said. "On a windy day it'll be like a desert storm. There's a lot of dust flying across to this community. There's kids outside, there's people doing their gardening. This time of year people have their windows open and we have dust blowing across their yards into their homes."
Sangris said people should be told about the risks posed by dust from the tailings that are known to contain arsenic trioxide - a toxic byproduct from decades of smelting gold ore.
"It's a real concern," he said.
"So far I haven't heard of anybody getting sick or dying from it. But (the federal government) is still responsible and they should make every effort to put signs up. They don't seem to be doing that. It's been a problem for decades."
Last Friday, the winds blew hard and dust covered the community, said Sangris.
"Right across the community of Ndilo there was dust flying around," he said. "People were walking around the community saying they could feel dust and gravel on their lips."
Johanne Black, a community liaison and technical adviser for the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, said she received a phone call warning her about the dust cloud covering the town.
"I looked out my window and it was a big dust plume," she said. "My issue with that is this happened last year as well."
Black said there are air quality monitors at the mine site and in surrounding areas, including Ndilo. Last year, the community's monitor didn't register a dangerous amount of arsenic in the dust.
"But tailings dust is not acceptable to any community," she said.
"I don't care what the measurements say at these air quality monitoring stations. The only reason I knew tailings dust was coming into the community was I had my window open and I had a fine layer of white dust on my desk. I knew that it was tailings. It was a different type of dust than regular road dust."
Natalie Plato, deputy director for the Giant Mine Remediation Project, confirmed tailings pond dust was observed blowing from the mine site at around 1 p.m. on May 15.
She stated by e-mail that clean-up crews acted to contain the dust by wetting the tailings ponds and tailings stockpiles.
"The health and safety of Northerners and the protection of the environment continue to be top priorities for the Giant Mine Remediation Project Team," Plato stated Thursday.
"This incident did not pose any immediate risk to workers, the public, or the environment. The team will continue to take active steps to manage the dry conditions on site."
An information page on the department's website states the air quality coming from the site is measured in terms of "total suspended particulate" - a measurement of dust particles measuring 100 microns or less in diameter.
The monitors at the mine and in surrounding areas look for spikes in dust particles.
When the dust exceeds an amount deemed dangerous, according to Health Canada criteria, they take actions to keep the dust down, including watering and calcium chloride application, the website states.
Black said not enough is being done to keep the dust from reaching Ndilo.
"Tailings dust is not acceptable at any level, and especially not a visible level."
