There are no signs warning people in Ndilo about arsenic in the soil even though contamination is worse there than in other communities near Giant Mine, says a Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN) employee.
“You have Kam Lake that has lakes that are high in arsenic and they all have signage, they all have advisories,” William Lines, a community liaison and technical advisor with the YKDFN lands management office, said Thursday during a public meeting related to a new arsenic exposure study.
“But you look at Ndilo, most of the soil in Ndilo is heavily contaminated, well above the industrial limit, yet nobody would know this from looking at it,” said Lines.
Neither the federal nor territorial government has put up signs to warn residents or visitors to Ndilo about arsenic, he said.
Concentrations of arsenic in Ndilo's soil are the result of past gold mining activity at Giant Mine. In the 1950s, between 2,900 and 7,400 kilograms of arsenic trioxide were released into the environment each day.
In January, the federal government published a Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment that will inform Giant Mine remediation efforts.
The nearly 2,500-page report examines how people living in Ndilo, Dettah, Yellowknife and along the Ingraham Trail are exposed to arsenic and other chemicals that were left behind by Giant Mine.
The assessment found the risks posed by the presence of arsenic in Ndilo are “very low to low,” but of the areas studied, the risks were highest in Ndilo.
Chief Ernest Betsina of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation said no officials have talked to him about arsenic contamination in Ndilo's soil.
He wants to know the results of any soil sampling that has been done in his community.
“No one's actually sat down and had a meeting with me or the other chief (Edward Sangris) and that's really concerning to me,” Betsina said Tuesday.
He too believes warning signs should be put up in Ndilo.
“I want my people to be aware of where exactly the contamination is, how much is contaminated and... is there any danger to my people,” he said. “That's very concerning to me, the health and well being of my people and the safety of my people. I wish the federal or territorial government would take responsibility and I'd like to see signs up.”
At last Thursday's public engagement meeting, Lines asked Lisa Dyer, the director of Environment at the GNWT's department of Environment and Natural Resources, whether the territorial government would put up warning signs in Ndilo, as it has done around lakes in Yellowknife.
Dyer's response was that land management in Ndilo is Ottawa's responsibility.
She said the government of Canada “is aware of those issues.”
Ndilo is within Yellowknife city limits, countered Lines. Does that make arsenic warning signs the city's responsibility?
“That's a question best asked of Canada,” said Dyer.
“We've been asking for years,” Lines responded.
Last November, the government of the Northwest Territories and the City of Yellowknife installed arsenic warning signs around Frame Lake, Jackfish Lake, Kam Lake and Rat Lake – bodies of water in Yellowknife with high arsenic levels.
The Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment pinpointed several arsenic “hot spots” in the soil of Ndilo, including at the school.
“One of the hot spots is in a wooded area,” Lines said in an interview on Monday. “If there's kids playing in that wooded area, I'm sure the parents would want to know what the contamination in the dirt is that the kids are playing in.”
Though the Yellowknives Dene First Nation has yet to make a written request for signage, Lines said both the territorial and federal governments are aware that signs are wanted.
“I know that there's hesitance on both ends,” he said. “Hesitance from the feds saying it's GNWT, and GNWT saying it's federal lands – it's kind of back and forth.”
The department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada was not able to respond to questions before Wednesday's print deadline.
Dr. Andre Corriveau, the Northwest Territories chief public health officer, was not available for an interview before deadline.
Kieron Testart, the MLA for Kam Lake, was surprised to hear that putting up warning signs in Ndilo is Ottawa's job.
“The issue here is getting signs up, it shouldn't be about finger pointing at whose responsibility it is,” said Testart after Thursday's public engagement meeting.
Testart was hopeful the GNWT would install signs if he and Tom Beaulieu, the MLA representing Ndilo, asked for them.
On Monday, Beaulieu said he has not seen any arsenic warning signs in Ndilo, nor has he been approached by anyone in the community asking for them.
In his view, if the arsenic levels in Ndilo's soil are not high enough to pose a risk to human health, then putting up signs would cause more harm than good.
“Posting stuff that alarms people or makes people uncomfortable to live there, I don't support,” said Beaulieu “But if the levels are dangerous, they should educate, plus they should post.”