NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: environmental monitoring, sediment chemistry, community based monitoring, Giant Mine, fish tissue contaminants, biology, water quality

Objective(s): 1) To collect environmental data surrounding the Giant Mine to serve as a baseline before remediation efforts; 2) To move the treated water discharge to Yellowknife Bay; 3) To assure the community that the Giant Mine Remediation efforts are improving environmental quality in Baker Creek and the area surrounding the mine; and, 4) To enhance the capacity and skill sets within the NSMA environmental Department and community members.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 5874. The objective of the study is to collect environmental data surrounding the Giant Mine to serve as a baseline, before remediation efforts, to move the treated water discharge to Yellowknife Bay. These activities are also to assure the community that the Giant Mine Remediation efforts are improving environmental quality in Baker Creek and the area surrounding the mine, including assurance that these environmental media are safe for recreational and fish harvesting purposes. A secondary objective is to enhance the capacity and skill sets within the NSMA environmental Department and community members, promoting participation in the remediation economy and developing a reliable dataset for NSMA concerning water quality, fish health, and sediment quality around the Giant Mine. NSMA community members will focus on the collection of surface water, sediment and fish tissue for the analysis of contaminants in these media in Baker Creek (at the Mine sites), in Yellowknife Bay (where treatment water will be discharged during reclamation of Baker Creek), and in Yellowknife River (a reference for Baker Creek) and Horseshoe Bay (a reference for Yellowknife Bay). All samples will be collected either by wading (in shallow sites) or by boat (in Yellowknife Bay, and Horseshoe Bay). A kayak or small inflatable boat may be required to access sites in Yellowknife River. Methods for sample collection will be suitable for citizen science studies as these media will be collected by NSMA community members who will be trained by Registered Professional Biologists from Zoetica Environmental Consulting Services. Surface water collection will be collected using a grab sampling method based on available best practices and guidelines for surface water quality sampling in the Northwest Territories (Draft Guidelines for developing baseline water quality programs in the Northwest Territories – MVLWB 2018) and Canada (Protocol Manual for Water Quality Sampling in Canada – CCME 2011). Sediment will be collected via a hand sampling method in shallow waters of Baker Creek and Yellowknife River, and using a grab sampler (e.g., Ekman grab) in deeper waters of Yellowknife Bay and Horseshoe Bay and will follow procedures outlined in the Protocols Manual for Water Quality Sampling in Canada (CCME 2011) and in The British Columbia Field Sampling Manual (BC MECCS 2020). All surface water and sediment samples will be processed and transported to ALS Laboratory in Yellowknife following procedures outlined by the laboratory. Fish will be collected via various collection methods, including angling, minnow trapping and seining in Baker Creek, the Yellowknife River, and in Yellowknife Bay and Horseshoe Bay in Great Slave Lake. All fish captured will be held according to the Best Practices outlined in Section 8 of CCME 2011 and will be processed as efficiently as possible. Captured fish will be enumerated, measured, and examined for lesions and parasites. Scale samples may be taken for aging purposes. After processing, fish will immediately be released to their habitat to minimize stress. Lethal sampling will be conducted on up to eight adult fish of each species (ninespine stickleback, slimy sculpin, and shiner spp.) and sex in Baker Creek and up to eight adult fish of each species (lake whitefish, walleye, northern pike, white sturgeon, and longnose sucker) and sex in Yellowknife Bay. Fish will be euthanized using clove oil or tricaine methane sulfonate (MS 222) followed by pithing for small fish, a blow to the head for large-bodied fish, cervical dislocation, or an overdose of anesthetic, as outlined in Section 8.10 of the CCME Protocols (CCME 2011). For small-bodied fish, trace metals will be analyzed on the whole fish. Approximately 100 g of muscle tissue will be retained for trace metals analysis for large-bodied fish caught by angling in Yellowknife Bay. For each dissected fish, the following information will be recorded: sex, state of maturity, internal condition, gonad weight, liver weight, carcass weight, stomach fullness, internal parasite presence, and weight of tissue for chemistry analysis. Updates on the Community Based Monitoring Program will be shared at the semi-annual Giant Mine Oversight Board (GMOB) meetings and the annual Giant Mine Forum community updaets meeting (NSMA members), ensuring all relevant stakeholders (CIRNAC, GNWT, City of Yellowknife, DFO, and Indigenous Parties - through GMOB) are informed about the research project. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: June 12 - August 10, 2024; September 01 - October 31, 2024