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ENR completes environmental assessments of shipyard, marine terminal, land

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Infrastructure Minister Wally Schumann has updated the NWT Legislative Assembly on environmental assessments on Hay River land previously owned by the defunct Northern Transportation Company Ltd. (NTCL).

The GNWT bought the land and NTCL assets in late 2016 to keep barging alive on Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River.

Schumann was responding to questions in the legislature on March 9 from Hay River North MLA R.J. Simpson.

"I would like an update from the minister of Infrastructure on what environmental assessments have been done and on which former NTCL lands, particularly in Hay River," said Simpson.

Schumann said Infrastructure and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) are working together to carry out environmental assessments on property formerly owned by NTCL.

"ENR has completed environmental assessments of the Government of the Northwest Territories' shipyard and marine terminal lots in Hay River," the minister said, noting those sites were a high priority for assessment.

A report is due on March 16.

"ENR will share the findings with the Department of Infrastructure once available," Schumann said. "Future remediation plans will depend on the outcome of these assessments. ENR and Infrastructure are also conferring regarding former NTCL properties at Norman Wells, Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. These sites will be determined and prioritized based on the assessment in 2018-2019."

When Simpson asked for more detail of the sites assessed in Hay River, Schumann said the synchrolift, the barge storage area along the waterfront in Old Town and eight leased lots along the inner harbour have been assessed.

"I am glad that those are the sites they are looking at first," said Simpson. "That is some prime real estate."

Schumann, who is also the MLA for Hay River South, noted that a significant amount of clean-up work was done at the shipyard last year.

"We spent a significant amount of money doing that," he said. "That will be staged out in the years to come."