A mine, a northern community, and 237,000 tonnes of arsenic

giant gold mine
The head frame of the Giant Gold Mine stands high above the ground in Yellowknife Tuesday Aug. 21, 200l. A northern regulatory board has raised doubts about federal plans to clean up a massive, arsenic-laden mess at Yellowknife's defunct Giant Mine. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chuck Stoody

We’ve known for a long time that mining can come with harmful byproducts, but Canada has often been slow to put this knowledge into action. And that’s a big part of how a veritable mountain of arsenic — enough to kill everyone in this country — ended up entombed in the ground on the outskirts of Yellowknife, just across the bay from the Yellowknife Dene First Nation.

How did it get there? What are we doing about it? What happens as the frozen ground up there gets warmer in the years to come? These aren’t pleasant questions, but sometime soon we’re going to need some decent answers.

GUEST: Eva Holland, freelance journalist writing for The Walrus

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