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Giant Mine watchdog mobilizing
Need for independent oversight of mine clean-up recognized through 2013 environmental assessment

Miranda Scotland
Northern News Services
Thursday, July 16, 2015

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The search is underway for directors with varying expertise to sit on the newly born oversight body for the Giant Mine remediation project.

NNSL photo/graphic

Gordon Hamre, Alternatives North, top row left; Kerry Penney, manager legal services and corporate policy, City of Yellowknife; Johanne Black, Giant Mine Advisory Committee, Yellowknives Dene First Nation; Todd Slack, regulatory specialist, Yellowknives Dene First Nation; City of Yellowknife administrative officer Dennis Kefalas; Kevin O'Reilly, Giant Mine Coordinator, Alternatives North, front row left, Ndilo Chief Ernest Betsina and Mayor Mark Heyck were present at the Giant Mine Environmental Agreement signing in Ndilo in May. - photo courtesy of Alternatives North

The body will act as a watchdog by providing guidance, monitoring, and reporting on the project, which is funded by taxpayers and managed by the federal government.

It is also tasked with engaging the public and managing a research program centred on finding a permanent solution for dealing with the 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide waste at the site.

Each of the signatories to the Giant Mine remediation project environmental agreement, under which the independent oversight body was created, will appoint a director.

The City of Yellowknife has narrowed down the search and hopes to choose a candidate by next month, said senior administrative officer Dennis Kefalas.

"We want someone with good knowledge of specific aspects of the project, especially as they relate to arsenic and arsenic treatment. As well as someone who has a good environmental background in terms of engineering/mining so they aren't just coming into this project cold. They have a good idea of what it entails, the magnitude of it, and they'll have a good understanding of the costs associated with such a remediation, clean-up type project."

Yellowknives Dene First Nation, North Slave Metis Alliance, Alternatives North, and both federal and territorial governments are also signatories.

The body will receive two pots of money, indexed to the Consumer Price Index for Yellowknife, until the agreement is terminated.

The budget allocation for general operations, such as employee salaries and expenses related to running a corporate office, is $650,000.

They will also receive $525,000 in the first four years to run the research program and $250,000 each of the years to follow.

However, for the 2015-2016 fiscal year the allocations will be lower.

"I don't think anybody wants the money to be a source of dispute and a lot of time and effort. What we really want to do is make sure the oversight body can focus on its work," said Kevin O'Reilly, who signed on behalf of Alternatives North.

The need for such an independent oversight body was laid in the Mackenzie Valley Review Board's Environmental Assessment of the Giant Mine remediation project and was among the 26 measures in the 2013 assessment.

However, community members have long recognized a need for such a body, said O'Reilly.

"The government allowed this mess to happen and we all share in that to some extent, but the government was also developing the plan for the remediation, they're carrying out inspections of themselves, the same department would also receive the results of the environmental assessment and same minister would sign off on a water licence to carry out the project . I think it's time we find the best possible experts to work together to properly carry out oversight and research."

To ensure the directors voices' are properly heard, there is a tiered dispute-resolution process outlined in the agreement.

It starts with the disputing parties entering into a negotiation and if the issues aren't resolved after 30 days they move onto mediation. If a further 30 days passes without a resolution the parties can begin binding arbitration.

What's unique is that only the oversight body can initiate the process, noted O'Reilly.

"For the diamond mine environmental agreements only the parties to the agreement can initiate dispute resolution, not the oversight bodies themselves.

So this is a different kind of arrangement and we believe it places more authority with the oversight body itself and I think it creates, certainly in our minds, a stronger confidence that this agreement will get implemented the way folks had intended it to be."

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