How site remediation can improve long‑term economic success in the NWT

By Tim Chidlaw

The Government of the Northwest Territories’ recent call for input on the benefits of the remediation economy is a welcome initiative, and is working to devise a real strategy for cleaning up abandoned, environmentally-unstable and contaminated sites.

As Canada continues to push larger investments in environment and climate-related actions, on the heels of promises made before the international community at COP27 and COP15 last year, engaging in a broad discussion on how best to approach remediation activities in the North is timely.

The remediation of contaminated sites in the territory usually comes with a significant price tag. For example, the cost of the Giant Mine Remediation Project, budgeted in 2014, came in at a cost of $934 million. A recent update suggests that the cost in today’s dollars could be close to five times that amount, when all costs associated with the project dating back to 2005 are included.

The work will take more than a decade to complete, with current forecasts suggesting a completion date of around 2038.

There are other challenges to consider beyond the high costs of remediation projects. The current regulatory environment in the territory can, on occasion, be difficult to navigate and bring projects to fruition in a timely manner. To make remediation projects a priority in the NWT, an improved regulatory framework, one that shortens the pre-procurement process and gets boots on the ground months or years faster, would benefit everyone in the region.

There also needs to be a solution for securing the labour force needed to conduct remediation activities. With intense demand for skilled labour in the rest of Canada, the solution would benefit tremendously by being a local one. Providing hands-on training and skills certification for under-employed workers in the region would boost the territory’s economy.

As well, it would provide transferable skills that could be used in other types of environmental and infrastructure work after the remediation activities are complete.

Partnering with Indigenous communities will be a vital component of any large-scale remediation effort. They can play a role in addressing the labour shortage, and have valuable traditional knowledge. Western science, combined with traditional knowledge, can create the best-in-industry solutions that will be needed for these complex projects.

Once the remediation activities on a given project are complete, the community and region will reap even more economic, social, and environmental rewards.

Further damage to the environment will be halted, allowing ecosystems to recover and allow both plant and animal species to again thrive on the land.

It will also manage the health risks caused by the environmental contamination, which could place a burden on the region’s health care system.

Finally, it will allow for new economic opportunities as people no longer shy away from creating new residential and commercial projects near a formerly contaminated project site.

What is missing from the discussion is the need to ensure that the right technologies and solutions are implemented in these remediation projects. Failure to introduce the right solution can set a project back financially. Many solutions exist for the type of remedial solution required at sites across the Northwest Territories. However, not all of them have been proven in cold weather climates.

Either through advanced testing, or through vetting technologies that already have a proven track record, there will be a real need to ensure that any solution applied to these sites can get the job done in northern climates.

There is a pathway forward for the Northwest Territories to invest in environmental remediation, and reap the rewards that such an investment will create. But it must be done thoughtfully, working with regional and industry stakeholders, and using proven technologies.

Tim Chidlaw is with WSP. For more information, email: tim.chidlaw@wsp.com

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s CANECT Environmental Compliance and Due Diligence Training Event. We look forward to seeing you at CANECT 2024!

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