Giant Mine project needs fast action on perpetual care planning, local economic benefits

Years into the Giant Mine remediation, the project's oversight board says the remediation has fallen behind on key recommendations including forming a perpetual care plan and clearly tracking economic benefits. 

The report from the Giant Mine Oversight Board (GMOB) says that despite a five-year socio-economic plan for the project and annually published employment, procurement and training data, the benefits generated for local people are still "unclear."

It says that while the project team was highly engaged on engineering and environmental issues, there was no "evident" or "high-quality" public engagements about the economy. It wants the project to create specific strategies and metrics to show economic benefits are being distributed locally. 

In 2022, the Giant Mine project team will update its socio-economic strategy. Simultaneously, the territorial government is studying the long-term potential of an N.W.T. remediation economy, and the board said this will help identify future labour demand. 

The board calls for measures to bring on local labour to increase Northern capacity to participate in that economy. 

Well-being and reconciliation

The oversight board said that the remediation project must also come with an apology and compensation for the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, and while YKDFN pursues a federal apology, the project team should be looking at the remediation and care stages of Giant Mine as "an opportunity for reconciliation."

Last summer YKDFN and Canada signed new agreements outlining collaborations for compensation and an apology for the mine's legacy, establishing a community benefits agreement for the First Nation and a framework for increasing the number of work packages awarded to Indigenous businesses. 

Perpetual care 

The board recommended improvements to contracting and to immediately start perpetual care planning, which includes long-term benefits for Northern workers and businesses.

In February 2021, the oversight board wrote to the lands department concerned about a lack of progress on perpetual care planning.

The land-use plan, recommended in 2019, has not been completed and the City of Yellowknife says it will not plan for the area until the remediation is complete. The board asked the territorial government when it will take the lead on wrangling parties to the Giant Mine Remediation Project Environmental Agreement, which also requires a perpetual care plan. 

Perpetual care is now two years behind, the report states.

In 2020, the project team asked for an extension to the perpetual care plan, and rejected two recommendations in May 2021 and October 2021 to hire a contractor to draft the plan. 

'Frustration and disappointment'

Concerned about the effectiveness of socio-economic groups created for the project, the board contracted an independent review of the socio-economic strategy.

But in July 2021, the city wrote to the territorial and federal governments to "express frustration and disappointment" with the effectiveness of these economy-focused groups. 

In response, the territorial government analyzed its data and found that "concerns about poor socio-economic conditions performance were not warranted."

Then, it initiated a five-year training plan for the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, North Slave Métis Alliance, and the Tłı̨chǫ Government.

Despite bringing local procurement issues to the project team, "no remedies are yet apparent," the report states.

The project team rejected the board's recommendation for a special liaison to work with interest groups on an economic strategy and has not provided a qualified or independent internal lead on socio-economic reporting, the board states. 

Progress made 

The board's report isn't all red X's.

It praised the project team for presenting "no major environmental concerns" about the mine site or remediation in 2021. 

In 2021 the oversight board welcomed the City of Yellowknife's appointment of a professional economist to the board. 

The project team also acquired additional water cannons for better dust suppression on site.

Communicating arsenic concerns 

In the future, the board will work with the project team and territorial government to make a post-remediation land use map with a 3D model that will help people understand which areas are available for use. 

This expands on existing communication around high or low-risk areas for arsenic and what places will be inaccessible forever, a concept the board says the public may not fully understand.

The board recommends the project team add contact information to signage around the mine site so that if the public sees anything concerning, like dust blowing off tailings ponds, they know who to call.

Research back online

A second "stress study" called Hoèła Weteèts'eèdeè: Understanding Community Well-being around Giant Mine Study has been ethics-approved and will begin this year.

During the pandemic, much of the research on how to safely extract arsenic trioxide from the mine site was also put on hold.

Researchers from several Canadian universities are looking for ways to safely extract and store arsenic trioxide instead of maintaining the site in perpetuity.

The is looking into the chemical properties of arsenic trioxide dust and how to chemically change arsenic trioxide into a less toxic, less water-soluble material and exploring options like stabilizing the dust by mixing it with cement. 

Monitoring and back up plans

In the short-term, the board said the project team needs to have "realistic contingencies in place in the event of unanticipated equipment failure."

This issue came up during the pandemic when obtaining parts became difficult.  

In 2021, a downhole pump on the northwest part of the site failed due to a power brownout and the pump was out of operation for no less than seven months. 

The project team had another working pump and contingency pumps underground were operating in place of the failed pump. 

However, the board still recommends a "more timely response to non-operational equipment."

Monitoring reports show the air quality to be "consistently good" around the mine site and that the project is meeting the effluent standards set out in the Type A water licence.

The Giant Mine Oversight Board holds its annual general meeting Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Explorer Hotel. The public is invited to attend.