A First Nation in the Yukon says its worried about a suspected leak at an abandoned mine site on its territory.
Last week, the Yukon government said contaminants had been detected in discharged water at the Wolverine mine in southeastern Yukon, indicating a suspected leak at the site’s tailings facility.
“We’re concerned. We’re very concerned,” said Chief Dylan Loblaw of the Ross River Dena Council. “How long has it been leaching or flowing into the watershed, the creeks, before it was actually detected?”
The Kaska First Nation is located in the community of Ross River, 135-kilometers from the Wolverine mine site.
The underground mine operated from 2009 to 2015 when it was abandoned by Yukon Zinc Corp. after it went bankrupt.
The government is now responsible for the site.
John Thompson, a spokesperson for the department of mines, said water quality samples first collected on Oct. 18 contained elevated levels of zinc, cadmium, selenium and cyanide. Zinc levels exceeded federal effluent regulations.
The government said additional water samples collected on Nov. 6 from discharge pipes and downstream locations passed “acute toxicity tests,” indicating no immediate harm to human health or aquatic life.
However, Loblaw said he and his people have concerns about the leak and how it might impact the environment and nearby waterways that supply drinking water.
“It comes with big concerns for health and safety,” he said. “We use the water streams… We’re still there,” he said.
Yukon government said its increased inspections and monitoring efforts at the site in order to determine next steps.
‘How much more mining can our environments take?’ asks chief
Wolverine is one of at least four abandoned mines on Kaska territory.
Perhaps the most infamous is the Faro mine, once the largest open pit lead-zinc mine in the world. Its now considered one of the most contaminated mine sites in Canada and will require a complex cleanup operation.
Loblaw feels Yukon’s legacy of abandoned mines, as well as the Eagle gold mine incident, indicate mining in the territory always comes at a price.
“How much more mining can our environments take?” Loblaw said. “We feel like it’s another failure and there needs to be greater accountability.”
Wolverine is currently in the care and maintenance phase which means production has stopped but the site is still managed to ensure it remains in a safe and stable condition.
Loblaw said the leak indicates the government’s efforts are insufficient.
“It’s not enough. So, we’d like to see active remediation take place,” he said.
Loblaw said he’s hopeful for a positive outcome with minimal environmental impact. He said his First Nation would ultimately would like to see the Wolverine site restored back to a state prior to development.
“We’d like to see all the assets there removed,” he said. “We’d like to see the place cleaned up. We’d like to see clean water flowing where it’s supposed to be flowing.”
No one from the government was available for comment.
Thompson said it’s not yet clear what caused the suspected leak.
The government said in a release its currently working on a two-year water treatment campaign for this upcoming spring.
The campaign, which aims to lower water levels in the mine’s tailings storage facility, would allow for inspections of the facility’s liner where the leak is suspected to have occurred.
Funding for the campaign is subject to legislative approval.
