Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Some Yellowknife, Ndilǫ and Dettah residents are skeptical about the Giant Mine site being successfully remediated. That's according to a recent survey from the Giant Mine Oversight Board (GMOB). About one-third of respondents said they were either "not very confident" or "not at all confident" that the site would be successfully remediated.
One of the constant responsibilities of the project team is to prevent the underground from flooding — so that water doesn't come into contact with the arsenic trioxide and threaten to carry it elsewhere. Right now, water underground is pumped into the northwest tailings pond year round. Every summer, water in the tailings pond is treated and discharged into Baker Creek, which flows into Yellowknife Bay. Rather than treat water three months per year, a new water treatment plant is being built that will treat water year round. Construction on that plant is set to begin in 2023, and is expected to be done by 2025. Once it's up and running, the northwest tailings pond won't be needed to store contaminated water anymore — allowing the project team to start remediation work there.
An Indigenous filmmaker is using TikTok to raise awareness about the toxic mess left behind at Giant Mine in Yellowknife, N.W.T., and the health risks it poses to the surrounding community. Morgan Tsetta, a Yellowknives Dene First Nation photographer and filmmaker working in Vancouver, has been posting videos about the mine in an effort to pressure the federal government for an apology and compensation.
