Nobody’s taking responsibility:’ board says govt’s must address Yellowknife’s arsenic problem – CBC
Oversight board recommends that federal, territorial, municipal gov’ts establish process for YK cleanup
Apr 20, 2017
Over a decade since Yellowknife’s Giant Mine closed its doors for the final time, it’s still not clear who will take responsibility in addressing the tonnes of arsenic trioxide dust that has settled in and around the city, according to the first report released by the Giant Mine Oversight Board.
The board, an independent body responsible for advocating for the monitoring and promotion of the remediation of the Giant Mine site itself, consists of six directors appointed by each of the parties in the Giant Mine Remediation Project Environmental Agreement. Those members include the federal government, Government of the Northwest Territories, and City of Yellowknife, as well as the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, North Slave Métis Alliance, and Alternatives North.
The board made 12 recommendations in an establishment report, released April 11. One of those recommendations, titled “off-site contamination,” noted that “no government department has accepted responsibility for assessing and remediating off-site contamination caused by historic operations at Giant Mine.”
