Behchokǫ̀ residents worry about health impacts of old uranium mine on Tłı̨chǫ lands

Some people in Behchokǫ̀, Northwest Territories are worried that a former uranium mine is making them sick. Ray Rock Mine is north of Behchokǫ̀ and Wottie. It closed in 1959 and it was only recently remediated. The federal government says the area around the mine is safe, but the people who live near it say they're not so sure and they want more information. Luke Carroll went looking for answers and he joins me now to tell us what he found. So first, Luke, can you just give us some background on the Ray Rock mine? Yeah, so it's located about 70 kilometers north of Behchokǫ̀. It operated from 1957 until 1959. And as you said, they mined uranium. It employed a lot of people in the Tłı̨chǫ and used some pretty serious toxins like arsenic. Based on the research I've done, after the mine stopped operating in 1959, It basically just sat there. No one cleaned it up for decades. It wasn't until 1996 that the federal government took over cleaning up of that site. Then an assessment in 2017 found the cleanup wasn't adequate to modern standards. And the feds and the Tłı̨chǫ started... properly remediating it in 2024 it's expected to take until 2029 before the cleanup is complete and the feds are going to be monitoring that site indefinitely. So Luke people that you spoke to in Behchokǫ̀ were worried about this site tell me why. Yeah so I went up to Behchokǫ̀ and I spoke with a group including Marcel and Zoe and he told me there was a village at the mine site and he lived there now we've seen other people who live there getting cancer. Him and others I spoke to say there were no safety precautions at the time. People would come home wearing their work boots and coats that were exposed to those toxins. He also worries about the toxins seeping into water supplies. The mine wasn't clean for years, and Behchokǫ̀ is downstream of it. How could they clean up a poison chemical? It's already in the air, it's already in the animals, animals are walking all over. It doesn't stay in one spot. J.P. Rebeska also lived at the mine site. His father worked there. Rebeska has cancer, and he sees others being diagnosed with cancer. He wonders if the mine is responsible. There are lots of people working at the mine, not only us. There's lots, lots of people working. Everybody knows. So Luke, when you were researching this story, it actually came up in the legislative assembly. What was said there? Yeah, so Janeway Ellen Armstrong, who's the MLA for Montfork, which represents the four Tłı̨chǫ communities, she's heard these stories before. Now, she raised this because she wants the territory to start investigating if there is a connection between Ray Rock and cancer in the Clicho. They're kind of like walking away from it. I don't think they want to go near it. but Ray Rock is in Northwest Territories. Somebody has to take responsibility for it. Again, the cleanup itself is not the territory's responsibility. It's the federal government. But the health implications that could exist from it would be the territory's responsibility. So did you find any connections between cancer in the Clichon and Ray Rock? Yeah, so I reached out to the Department of Health and asked that very question and they provided data from 2013 to 2022. Now the Department of Health says it hasn't detected any clusters of unusual or rare cancers that would warrant a more in-depth environmental investigation and that cancer rates are impacted by a variety of factors. The department also acknowledged that the territory's detection rate is incredibly low. I also reached out to the federal government to water testing around Ray Rock. They didn't agree to an interview but over email they say the area has been tested extensively over the last 30 years and there is no risk to Bechico's water supply. I also read through a health assessment on the Ray Rock mine that was published in 2018. It found that in that area there was concentrations of uranium and arsenic but that it posed no risk to anyone who was outside that area for less than 90 days. Now, I called Marcel and Zoe and I shared this information and he says he's still concerned. He's seen a lot of people being diagnosed with cancer and not a lot of information on this former uranium mine that's in his backyard. And he wants an independent investigation into this. So where is the Clicho government on all this? Yeah, so I reached out to the Clicho government and I shared those concerns. The Clicho government is working with the federal government on the mines cleanup, and they agreed with Zoe and the others. In a statement, the Clicho government described Ray Rock's legacy as a painful part of Clicho history, operating at a time when Clicho people didn't have much say over decisions affecting their area. It said it works closely with the federal government and actively oversees the remediation project. It said its monitoring shows water downstream from the mine is generally clean and safe for people, fish, and wildlife. Now, I also followed up with the federal government to ask about if there has been any investigation into the health risks of the 40-plus years of no remediation. A spokesperson got back to me to say that the feds Don't have records on the contamination levels on nearby communities during those years. Okay, thanks for all your work on this, Luke. Thanks for having me, Megan.