Rethinking remediation: mine closure and community engagement at the Giant Mine, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada

Beckett, Caitlynn (2017) Rethinking remediation: mine closure and community engagement at the Giant Mine, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Mine remediation entails long-term risks due to the need to contain and monitor dangerous materials. To date, research on mine remediation in Canada has focused primarily on technical fixes; little is known about the political and social nature of remediation. Using the Giant Mine in Yellowknife, NWT as a case study, this thesis analyzes mine remediation in the Canadian sub-Arctic and investigates how local communities shape remediation processes. Applying the concepts of ecological restoration, environmental justice, social waste theory, and theories of repair, and care, this thesis analyzes how effectively community concerns have been included in remediation planning. This thesis asks: how can the current approach to mine remediation be changed from a focus on site containment to a broader emphasis on community remediation, restoration, and reconciliation? Without a community objectives based approach to remediation, such projects risk continuing systems of colonization, marginalization and environmental degradation.

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