Feds want winter road to access old mines sites east of Yellowknife
Lodge, cabin owners worry about contamination, garbage and over-harvesting of fish and wildlife
Jessica Davey-Quantick
Northern News Services
Friday, November 18, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A proposed winter road that will allow access to seven abandoned mine sites 60 to 90 km east of Yellowknife is being met with worries over hazardous waste, vandalism, and over-harvesting of fish and wildlife, according to comments received by the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board.
This "after" photo taken last Thursday, Sept 11, shows what's left of the Ruth Gold Mine. The mine which hadn't be in use since 1959, was razed by a forest fire earlier this summer. - photo courtesy of Ryan Silke |
The winter road network would connect the historic Bullmoose, Chipp, Spectrum, Storm, Beaulieu, Joon and Ruth mines with the Ingraham Trail at Reid Lake, reactivating a seasonal route last used in the winter of 1988-89.
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) wants the road so it can clean up the mine sites as part of its obligations under its devolution deal with the territorial government in 2014, which requires Ottawa remediate mine sites that existed before the deal was struck. The road is expected to open every winter until the clean-up project is complete in 2020. It will pass through Harding, Hearne and Campbell lakes on its way to the mines.
Work was supposed to begin Oct. 20 and the road completed Jan. 20, according to documents with the land and water board, but the board has yet to reach a decision.
Yellowknifer sought comment all week from INAC and the board but neither provided a statement prior to press time. Jen Potten, a regulator co-ordinator with the land and water board did say a decision was expected early next month. Comments provided to the board during the consultation phase for the winter road show not everybody is happy it will be reopened.
"We all know it will be used by people who will come through and try to destroy or use places that don't belong to them," wrote Stacey Sundberg, a member of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation from Dettah, in a July 13 letter to the board.
She expressed particular concern about the portion of the road cutting through Campbell Lake.
"In the winter of 2004 I had set snares in this area and it was taken down by the squad from the Canadian military. If this ice road goes through, I know for a fact that this will happen more often, not only to us but all the other people in the area."
Ken Yoder, president of Hearne Lake Operations Ltd., which operates Hearne Lake Lodge, wrote that in the years immediately after purchasing the lodge in 2011, they discovered garbage left behind from the last time the winter road was in use during the 1980s.
"We spent many days gathering garbage left behind and had this taken to the landfill in Yk at our cost so that our guests would not have to see the disrespect that others had shown previously," he wrote, adding that after the forest fires in 2014 and 2015, the lodge realized they had "just scratched the surface of what was hidden amongst the trees."
He expressed concern the lodge could be "looking at the same scenario" if the winter road is allowed to re-open to the public.
Another letter writer, Peter James Graham, who leases land on Campbell Lake, questioned whether there is a "greater chance" of contamination occurring by moving potentially hazardous materials from the mine sites rather than leaving them undisturbed.
"It would be catastrophic were such debris to crash through the ice on Campbell Lake," he wrote.
Documents submitted to the board by INAC show off-site disposal of hazardous waste in Yellowknife could include asbestos, petroleum hydrocarbons, lead paint, batteries and contaminated soil.
In a winter road user group meeting held by INAC on July 19, officials said there will be "tight controls" in place to ensure the environment is protected, and licensed fuel and waste haulers will be used in accordance with legislation.
Addressing concerns about hunting, trapping and fishing, officials explained these activities will be monitored by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the GNWT Department of Environment and Natural Resources through winter road patrols, while private property issues can be pursued with the RCMP. The yet unnamed contractor will notify INAC of any concerns should snowmobilers become a problem on the road.
Information was not made available at press time on how much the road will cost and how many jobs it will create.
According to Ryan Silke, an historian and board member with the NWT Mining Heritage Society, said there is not much left to see at any of the seven mine sites.
"There's really not much left after the forest fires a couple of years ago," he said.
The heritage society has identified a few items, including big pieces of machinery, it would like for a proposed museum at Giant Mine. He said the society is in negotiations with the government about the potential for leaving some items behind as monuments on the sites.
"Most of those sites are pretty small, fairly benign, not much for hazardous waste, on the scale of the other mines that you might be familiar with like Giant, those kinds of sites. The cleanup for the most part will just be a clean sweep of any scrap metal and garbage, and capping off the underground workings."
If approved, the winter road would be maintained until Feb. 11, 2020, according to documents. After the cleanup is complete, there would be a monitoring phase, after which the sites would be transferred to the GNWT.
