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Gold/Mining/Energy : ABER RESOURCES -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cal Powers who wrote (930)	1/7/1999 6:27:00 AM
From: Bob Fairchild	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2006

Thanks for the information Cal. Provides a much clearer picture of things and a better appreciation of what the community has to deal with. Bob

To: Cal Powers who wrote (930)	1/12/1999 12:36:00 AM
From: robert landy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2006

Another post from news/north letters to the editor: Mine won't affect water quality Monday, January 11, 1999 I read with interest "Diamond mine worries community," (News/North, Dec. 21). Come on guys, Diavik is the least of your worries. Mother Nature and poor engineering have given Kugluktuk poor water quality since 1981 and this will not be rectified until funding is in place for a reservoir and a new water treatment plant. The following is a little history on the subject. For many years, the hamlet of Kugluktuk relied on a semi-portable facility on the Coppermine River for its source of water supply. In 1980, a new permanent water intake facility was designed and constructed near the old system. The intake is located on the shore of the left bank of the river, approximately two kilometres upstream of the mouth in the main (westerly) channel where it enters a bay on the Coronation Gulf. This whole new system was installed on the river ice from April to May, 1980. Glitches in new system Within four or five months, the first set of problems started to appear to the system -- salt water intrusion was occurring as the intake screens were positioned only a half a meter off the sandy bottom of the river. Since this was found to be a reoccurring problem affected by river flow, break-up conditions and high tides and a number of more seasonal problems, the intake pumps finally became inoperable. The whole system shut down in December, 1981. The following year ('82) brought further studies, complete with underwater filming and investigations. Spring breakup brought mud and silt and the fall months brought high tides with salt water entering the system. During these examinations, it was found that as much as .7 metres of silt and sand covered the screens each year, not to mention fish nets, garbage, willow trees and drift wood. Design solutions Finally, in 1984, a design was submitted by a well-known engineering group, that would hopefully eliminate the above problems. In simple terms, each intake screen was bolted onto a 15-foot intake arm and each had a floatation chamber or drum capable of lifting each screen under the ice or below the surface in the summer months, with two special small air compressors in the pumphouse. Just a flick of a switch would activate the arms to raise and draw the upper level of fresh water. Each intake was equipped to act independent of the other. With the introduction of this new modification, the system worked well until 1986 and then Mother Nature played some more dirty tricks. Breakup brought tons of unwanted sand into west channel and changed the river sandbeds. From 1986-91, these highly-designed arms were covered with sometimes two meters of sand. Excavation would start each fall to free the arms for the winter months. Finally, in '91, our firm recommended that these arms be removed and each screen elevated above the recommended level so salt intrusion would level our below the intakes. This also brought the expenses down to a manageable level as the intake would be in one area, bringing the total of labour days down from two weeks to five days. Problems still exist In trying to keep this story short, Kugluktuk still has problems. Last year brought in lots of ice and low water. This was a threat to the system and the intake screens had to be positioned back and then meters of sand were evacuated from the encroaching sandbar. For months at a time, silt enters the system and settles into the reservoir tanks and this brings muddy water for months. Delivery trucks have to be flushed out and tanks cleaned. Common-sense answers The answer to all these problems is a good engineering plan and funding to put this in place. The good news is that after all these years, an engineering group working with the hamlet has come up with some good, solid common sense answers. First, we will confine the underwater screens by installing a metal containment fence, six-feet high, to keep out the advancing sand movement. The second stage will be to construct a water reservoir near the pumphouse. Water will then be stored and pumped into a full water-treatment plant. This treatment plant will be designed much like the one at the BHP mine. This filtering system will ensure that the people of Kugluktuk have clear drinking water through all seasons. To make a long story short, the future Diavik mine will not effect the water quality, Mother nature will take care of that. Wayne Gzowski President and operations manager Arctic Divers