'Extremely disappointed': Inspectors not happy with remediation project east of Yellowknife

Inspectors with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada are "extremely disappointed" with its own remediation team working east of Yellowknife the teamhas failed to comply with 18 conditions of a land use permit and associated management plan.

The team, lead by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada's own Contaminants and Remediation Division (CARD), is cleaning up seven abandoned mine sites located between 70 and 90 kilometreseast of Yellowknife.

Tim Morton and Devin Penney, both federal resource management officers, inspected the mine sites on May 23, 2017, and filed a critical report with the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board on May 26.

The inspectors found that the clean-up team had failed to report a hydrocarbon spill, failed to stop petroleum products from spreading to surrounding lands, failed to use drip trays under leaking equipment, failed to clean up all leaks, and contaminated material, failed to report a truck fire, and among other things operated a quarry too close to a body of water.

"The inspectors discovered what appear to be a very large hydrocarbon spill near the shoreline of Spectrum Lake," Morton wrote in the report.

"The source of the spill appeared to be from old drums that were located near the base of the hill near the shoreline of Spectrum Lake. Some of these barrels appeared to have been moved since the March 28, 2017 inspection."

"The inspectors were extremely disappointed to discover that [drip trays] were not in use at the time of the inspection."

Morton ordered the remediation team to make 16 changes to address the problems.

Those include immediately stopping all quarrying activities within the Bullmoose land use area, conduct third-party water sampling of the flooded Beaulieu Mine Camp, take measures to prevent any hydrocarbons from reaching Spectrum Lake, report that spill to the N.W.T. Spill Report Line, provide a detailed report regarding a burnt rock truck located at Ruth Mine camp, and place drip trays under all vehicles parked for more than two hours.

Orders not listed as "immediate" were given a June 1 deadline.

The report added failure to comply with an order can lead to fines of $100,000 or jail time.

In a letter dated May 26 responding to the report, Carey Ogilvie, a senior manager with the federal remediation team, stated, "I am acknowledging receipt of the inspection report and orders and once again confirming we at CARD are taking follow-up actions in coordination with the Public Services and Procurement Canada Project Manager."

A previous inspection on March 1 also made note of failures to use drip trays, and leaking equipment.

No one with the federal remediation team or the inspectors responded to a CBC request for comment.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada has not confirmed if any or all of the orders have been addressed.