Nunavut community frustrated after deserted exploration site left to rot

Hunters in Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut, are worried a deserted Shear Diamonds exploration site near the community is polluting a nearby fishing lake, as they say the site has been virtually untouched and rotting away for roughly five years.

The site was an exploration camp near Josephine Lake, about 35 kilometres southwest of Chesterfield Inlet. Shear Diamonds disappeared from public viewsometime between 2012 and 2013, leaving more than one of its sites deserted.

Hunters say the exploration site near their community is taking a toll on wildlife, and it's not a pretty picture. Drums are rusting, tents are mouldy, and garbage is scattered on the land.

"The land around it is starting to be destroyed from the rust and the mould, and it's at a site where our fishermen go set out nets in the fall and during the winter," said Chesterfield Inlet Mayor Barnie Aggark, who's also the chair of the local hunters and trappers organization.

"It's a lake where char run up. When it rains, it's going to flow into the lake and that's not healthy for the fish. The contaminants around it isn't healthy. Not just for the fish but for the caribou and the animals on the land. Whatever they eat, it's going to affect their bodies."

Cleanup efforts stonewalled

Aggark says people in Chesterfield Inlet have offered to clean it up themselves, but those requests have all been denied.

The Kivalliq Inuit Association is monitoring the site which sits both on Crown-owned and KIA-owned land but officials with the organization say it's a "grey area" as for who's responsible for maintaining and cleaning it.

The department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, meanwhile, says the area in question near the Josephine Lake is on KIA-owned land. Either way, as far as cleanup efforts go, KIAsays its hands are tied.

"Right now, the campsite on Josephine Lake is still not considered abandoned by INAC. We are still not allowed to do the cleanups yet," said Gabriel Karlik, KIA's community program officer.

"So all we've been doing is makingsure everything is where it's supposed to be in one area so it's safe for the environment."

Karlik added when KIA inspectors visited the site in March, they didn't physically see any contaminants leaking into the lake.

In a statement, INAC says ithas inspectors visiting the site this summer, but right now the site doesn't meet the criteria to be declared abandoned under the Nunavut Waters and Surface Rights Tribunal Act.

There are two requirements for that to happen.

First, the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs has to believe a site has been abandoned. Then, one of two options has to be met: if the person operating the site contravened anycondition of a licence, or, ifthe abandonment "may cause a danger to persons, property or the environment."

Aggark says he hopes the government understands his community's plight, and feels there should be money set aside for emergency cleanups for future projects.

"The land is really important to our community. We're still very traditional. They share their catch and it's important to have our meat as pure as possible and keep our land clean," he said.

"It all depends on what the animals eat, that the animals will stay healthy, and I hope our government can realize that it's very important to protect our land, especially from explorations that are just going to come and abandon sites like this."