Thank you. Environmental protection and waste management, beginning on page 76, with information items on page 78. And this one, for the new Members' information, yes, it ends on 78. Okay, I'll entertain questions on this section. Okay, Mr. O'Reilly.
Debates of Feb. 23rd, 2022
This is page numbers 3441 - 3480 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was work.
Topics
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole On Bills And Other Matters
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Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. You'll want to reset the clock but I don't think I need the full ten minutes you might be relieved to know.
On this one, contaminated sites is listed as one of the program areas, and I note that in one of the very few successful environmental rights act requests for an investigation, there might have been two only successful in about 20 years. The last one, though, was about the Ptarmigan Mine, which is down the road here in Yellowknife. Quite frankly, it's a disgrace. People, tourists have to drive by that thing all the time, and it's just a total mess. But the Minister did conduct an investigation and said that work needed to done at the site. I understand it's one of these sites under devolution. So can the Minister tell me what has been done at the site? Is there money in this budget to actually do further work at the site? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
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Kelly
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ptarmigan is one of the accepted waste sites in the devolution agreement. So there are still negotiations ongoing. There's been much progress that has been made lately with the federal government. We have, based on the outcomes of that investigation, committed to dust suppressant which we're working on right now to get in place. There was fencing -- some signage and fencing repair, and there's additional fencing repair that will be occurring in the spring, and we're working on a land use permit at this time. I should mention the accepted waste sites negotiations are for more sites than just Ptarmigan, and they're all being considered in those discussions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. So is there money in this budget to do work at Ptarmigan, and can we get reimbursed? And what is that amount? And can we get reimbursed for that money by the feds? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
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Kelly
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's part of the negotiations that we're having with the federal government at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair. To do the work I described. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Yeah, okay, thanks for that. Okay, for the tailings cover, the dust suppressant, stuff starts to dry out in May. Do we actually have the suppressant in stock, so to speak, and is it ready to be sprayed on or whatever in May? Because that's when the stuff starts to blow around, so. That's something we've seen from Giant Mine for years and the same out there so do we have the stuff ready to go? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
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Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
That's one of the few times I think I've actually got a 'yes' in this house, so very pleased to hear that, and I know a lot of other Yellowknife residents and others will be quite happy with that.
So in the description of the activities carried out under what the purpose of this section of ENR is, there's words around prevention. Is there any policy work that this section of ENR is going to do this year? The only thing in six years that I've seen here was about a 10- or 12-page document about some kind of vague GNWT policy around contaminated sites. Is there any other policy work, legislative changes, anything at all, that is going to help prevent messes like Ptarmigan Mine from happening again and again and again? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
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Kelly
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So there is an approach to contaminated sites document that we have, and we have an ADM working group because this is a multi-departmental initiative, which we've shared with committee. There's a GNWT contaminated sites management work plan that has a number of policy-based items that folks are working on at multiple departments, and we're on track with that work. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think I may have seen a document, but can the Minister commit to share it with standing committee and report regularly on progress on that initiative? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
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