| Principal Investigator: | Montgomery, Shelagh (1) |
| Licence Number: | 15971 |
| Organization: | Arcadis Canada Inc. |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2016
|
| Issued: | Oct 13, 2016 |
| Project Team: | Jennifer McKelvey, Geoff Claypool |
Objective(s): To verify the effectiveness of remedial measures at the Discovery Mine site.
Project Description: The Discovery Mine long term monitoring (LTM) program has as its primary objective to verify the effectiveness of remedial measures at the site. This will be accomplished via a Geotechnical Monitoring and Visual Inspection; Terrestrial Environment Monitoring; Water Quality Monitoring, and Aquatic (fish) Monitoring. As part of the Phase II LTM for the Discovery Mine site, the program addresses institutional/administrative controls (e.g., signs), engineered controls (e.g., mine seals, engineered covers) and environmental monitoring (water quality, terrestrial ecosystem) to evaluate key risk management assumptions and ecosystem recovery. The September field program will cover the following general monitoring requirements: a) Geotechnical and visual inspections of the crown pillar, remediation landfill, east rock quarry, silty-clay borrow pit, and engineered covers. b) Surface water quality monitoring at various locations across the site. c) Aquatic (fish) Monitoring in Giauque Lake. d) Terrestrial monitoring via opportunistic means to record observations of wildlife on-site and vegetation growth on tailings covers. e) Visual inspections of equipment and facilities. The site inspection is primarily a walk-around of the site by a registered engineer who maintains a photo log. Water sampling will be conducted from a small boat and from the shoreline by surface grabs. Fish sampling will be conducted using gill nets left for short (4-5 hours) periods at various nearshore locations in Giauque Lake. The work is being carried out as part of ongoing long-term monitoring (LTM) of the remediated Discovery Mine, under the management of Indian and Northern Affairs Contaminants and Remediation Division (INAC CARD). INAC has maintained communications and consultation with Aboriginal groups with interests in the land around Discovery Mine. The field team will include 2-3 people from the Akaitcho Dene First Nations to provide sampling support and act as wildlife monitors. The local Aboriginal community has been involved with clean-up at the Discovery Mine since the initial remediation plan was developed in 2004. This involved consultation with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN), North Slave Metis Alliance (NSMA) and the Tlicho. INAC is conducting consultation with Aboriginal stakeholders with regard to the recently drafted Phase II Long-term Monitoring Plan. The INAC Project team will continue to engage NSMA, Tlicho and YKDFN as long-term monitoring progresses. Notification of research license and permit applications will be distributed to affected parties. Community meetings will be coordinated within the 2016/2017 fiscal year. All engagement activities will be logged within the Engagement Log. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from October 14, 2016 to December 31, 2016.
