More than a month after potentially hazardous waste was transported away from Yellowknife’s Giant Mine, officials still can’t say with certainty what the waste was or what happened next.
According to documentation filed with environmental regulators, bags of possibly contaminated waste were taken away from the toxic former gold mine in mid-October “without following the waste manifesting procedures.”
In last month’s notification to regulators, the federally led team remediating Giant Mine admitted it could not say for sure what the waste was.
It’s possible that the waste could have made it all the way to Alberta without anyone knowing what they were handling, a potential contravention of federal legislation.
In an update provided to Cabin Radio this week, federal agency Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada said a “thorough investigation” had taken place and a final report is expected soon.
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“The Giant Mine Remediation Project shares concerns about waste leaving the site improperly,” a Cirnac spokesperson stated by email.
The spokesperson said changes introduced since the incident involve having all waste leaving the site inspected to confirm it has been “appropriately characterized and manifested,” and holding meetings of the contractors involved “to address deficiencies and improve performance.”
“As the investigation is ongoing, additional steps may become required as appropriate,” the spokesperson added.
At the time, a notification sent to government inspectors read: “The exact volumes and types of waste transported … were not properly tracked or recorded prior to arrival.”
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The best information available “suggests that it included materials such as waste oil, oily rags, oily debris and contaminated mineral waste (likely soil),” the document continued.
Federal legislation places strict controls on how hazardous material is transported between jurisdictions, while the remediation project’s permitting includes rules designed to stop waste being transported without certainty about the contents.
Often, hazardous waste generated as part of Giant’s remediation is handled within the site rather than being taken away. As a result, it’s possible the waste in question should never have left the site in the first place.
After decades as a working gold mine, Giant – on the doorstep of Yellowknife and Ndılǫ – has morphed into a $4-billion remediation project considered one of the most contaminated sites in Canada.
The Yellowknives Dene First Nation is pursuing an apology from the federal government for allowing toxic gold production at Giant without appropriate environmental oversight. The First Nation has asserted that damage from the mine will be “felt for generations into the future.”
