P Federal officials are refusing to talk about the recent flooding of a tailings pond at the defunct Giant Mine near Yellowknife, raising concerns about mining waste potentially contaminating a nearby creek and lake. The tailings area, which holds toxic byproducts from decades of gold mining, was flooded on May 14 when an ice dam formed on nearby Baker Creek. Giant Mine, located just outside Yellowknife, produced more than seven million ounces of gold from 1948 until it closed in 1999.Giant Mine, located just outside Yellowknife, produced more than seven million ounces of gold from 1948 until it closed in 1999. (CBC) The dammed creek flooded its banks and washed over the tailings. The water seeped through the waste and eventually flowed back into the creek, which empties into Great Slave Lake a few kilometres away. In the days after the flood, officials from four federal departments and an engineering firm were at the tailings pond to assess the problem. Pumps and generators were set up to draw creek water away from the tailings, and water samples were taken daily. But so far, none of the departments involved — the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Department, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Environment Canada, and The Department of Public Works and Government Services — would talk publicly about what the water tests show. "I think there must be a reason because if there were minimal concerns, they would have released the results of the water samples," Chief Edward Sangris of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation in Dettah, N.W.T., told CBC News on Wednesday.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Jun 2013 02:19:31 +0000
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