Arsenic warning signs will go up at Yellowknife lakes after all, says health minister
Glen Abernethy says there was some 'confusion' at health department
The N.W.T.'s Health Minister says signs will be posted soon at Yellowknife-area lakes with dangerous levels of arsenic, despite a statement earlier this week by the territory's top public health doctor saying that wasn't going to happen.
Many lakes in and around Yellowknife have high concentrations of arsenic, the result of historic pollution from Con Mine and the roaster stack at the nearby Giant gold mine.
Earlier this week Andre Corriveau, the N.W.T.'s chief public health officer, said the government would not be putting signs up, opting instead to spread the word online. He told CBC News signs are easily stolen or defaced and people accessing the lake might not see them.
But Health and Social Services minister Glen Abernethy told CBC News on Friday that he gave his department a directive in the spring to put signs up at key entry points to lakes with high levels of arsenic and that has not changed.
"I've re-confirmed that direction in the last day given that clearly there has been some confusion within the department," said Abernethy on Friday.
"We're moving forward with signs with the city."
He said the health department will pay for the signs and the City of Yellowknife will be responsible for installing them. They hope to have "something out in the next couple of weeks" at the more popular lakes that have high levels of arsenic, he said.
Abernethy added that signs are one just mechanism to get the word out about arsenic levels in lake water and the department still encourages people to go online for more detailed information about health risks and recommendations.
He said when he saw Corriveau quoted as saying there wasn't going to be signs, "I was a little surprised. I did contact the department to figure out what happened."
He still doesn't know exactly what happened but said there have been a lot of staff members on holiday and maybe the information "didn't get to the people it needed to get to."
He said Corriveau "is now fully up to speed on the fact that we are putting in signs."
with files from Alex Brockman