NWB meets on Nanisivik risks

The residents of Arctic Bay are moving one step closer to the day when they’ll see the clean-up of the Nanisivik mine.

Last week, all the parties involved in the $11.5-million clean-up of the former zinc mine were in Ottawa for a meeting called by the Nunavut Water Board.

Representatives for Breakwater Resources Ltd. discussed their assessment of the risks to human health and ecology with representatives from the NWB, the Government of Nunavut, the Hamlet of Arctic Bay and the federal department of Indian affairs and northern development.

Under the terms of its water license, Breakwater must return the land in and around the Nanisivik mine to its original state.

By mid-October, Breakwater has promised to submit its final assessments of the risks posed by the closing of the mine. This risk-assessment plan will determine how much Breakwater has to do during the clean-up operation.

If satisfied with the assessment, the NWB can recommend that the GN and DIAND also approve it.

The NWB will then send its community coordinator, Patrick Duxbury, to Arctic Bay, along with representatives from the GN, DIAND and Breakwater, to update residents on the progress of the mine’s clean-up.

The company’s final abandonment and restoration plan is due by Dec. 15, 2003.

If all goes according to schedule, in March 2004, the NWB will hold another round of public hearings in Arctic Bay.