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2TuesdayNovember252014INDUSTRYOILGASNEWSBRIEFSStantonHospitalreceivesfour-yearaccreditationNWTHealthMinisterGlenAbernethyannouncedthatStantonTerritorialHealthAuthorityreceivedaccredita-tionforthenextfouryearsaftermeeting91.3percentofnationalprogramstandards.ThehospitalwasevaluatedthroughoutSeptemberwhensurveyorsmetwithnumerousstakeholdersincludingbutnotlimitedtopatientsstaffandthepublicadministratortoreviewStantonsoperations.Ac-creditationCanadaispartofanindependentorganizationthatsetsstandardsforqualityandsafetyinhealthcareandaccreditshealthorganizationsinternationally.GwichinelectnewleadershipMembersoftheGwichinTribalCouncilGTCvotedinJamesWilsonastheirnewpresidentinaby-electionheldNov.17.Thenewleaderwonwith721votesbestinghisopponentRichardNerysoowhoreceived399votes.About1200of2700eligibleGwichinvotersturnedoutoralmost44percent.ThiswillbeWilsonssecondtimesittingontheGTCexecutiveafterservingasthegroupsvicepresidentforonetermin1996.Theelectionwasheldtoreplaceformerpresi-dentRobertAlexieJrwhodiedsuddenlyinJune.ThenexttermelectionfortheGTCisscheduledforthefallof2016.SnowmobileaccidentleavesonedeadinYellowknifeAYellowkniferesidenthasdiedfollowingafatalsnow-mobilecrash.ThebodyofMelPalmer53wasfoundbyRCMPofcersintheearlymorninghoursofNov.19closetohiscabinbyWalshLake.RCMPstartedsearchingtheareaafterreceivingacallfromPalmerswifewhosaidhehadntreturnedhomewhenhewasexpected.Ofcersbe-lievealcoholwasacontributingfactorinthecrash.Thein-cidentiscurrentlyunderinvestigationbytheRCMPandtheCoronersofce.KELLYSNewWinterHours800AM1000PM800AM1000PM800AM1000PM800AM1000PM800AM300AM900AM300AM900AM1000PMMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayKellysConvienceStoreGasBar23PortageAve.FortSmithGwichinrequestmoretimetoreviewYukondrillingproposalChinese-ownedcompanylookstodrill20oilandgaswellsnearEaglePlainsByMEAGANWOHLBERGGwichinFirstNationsintheNWTandYukonarelook-ingformoretimetoreviewaproposalfromNorthernCrossthatseekstodrill20exploratoryoilandgaswellsintheEaglePlainsareawestoftheYukonborder.TheTetlitGwichinCouncilofFortMcPhersontheVun-tutGwitchinFirstNationofOldCrowtheNa-ChoNyakDunFirstNationofMayoandthePorcupineCaribouManagementBoardhaveallrequestedtheconsultationperiodbeextendedfortheprojectthatisanticipatedtobegininJanuaryifapprovedbytheYukonreviewboard.ConcernedGwichinintheNWTsaytheyhavenotbeenproperlyconsultedontheprojectanditspotentialimpactsontheenvironmentandtheirharvestingrights.Whattheyaretryingtodobyconsultingandgoingtocommunitiestoadvisepeo-pleregardlessofwhatpeoplesaytheywillgoaheadwiththeirplansTetlitGwichinmemberElaineAlexiewroteinanonlinecallouttoresi-dentstoattendthemeetingheldinFortMcPhersonlastWednesday.Thisunder-minesTetlitGwichinpolit-icalsovereignty.ThisisnotO.K.becausetheirreversiblethreattoourpristinewatersandlandsissogreat.Itcan-notbeundone.TheYukonEnvironmentalandSocio-economicAssess-mentBoardrecentlyO.K.danextensiontothecommentperioduntilDec.4butthecaribouboardwantstoseethatpushedfurtherbacktoaccommodatetheirnextmeetingwhichisscheduledforDec.5-6.NorthernCrossaCalgary-basedcompanyfinancedlargelybystate-ownedChi-nesecompanyCNOOCisproposingtodrillandcon-ductextendedowtestsonupto10wellsperyearoverthenexteightyearsusingap-proximately5000litresperdayofwateranddisposingofwastewaterthroughsumpsordeepwellinjections.Alongwiththewellstheprojectincludestheconstruc-tionofupto82kmofroadswhichwouldbeginaswin-terroadsandbeconvertedtoall-seasonifwarranted.Upto300000litresofwaterfromtheEagleandorOgil-vieRiverswillbedrawnperdaytoconstructtheroads.Thetotalareatobedisruptedforwellpadsandroadsisex-pectedtototaljustunder1.7millioncubicmetres.IftheprojectisapprovedNorthernCrossofcialssaythedrillprogramwillbedoneinamannerthatissafeandresponsible.EquallyimportantNorth-ernCrosshasacodeofcon-ductthatrequireshonestyinclusivityandacknowl-edgmentofthediverseeth-nicandculturalnatureofthecompanyandtheregioninwhichitoperatesreadstheirstatementonthepro-posal.OperationswillbeconductedtoastandardthatisinfullcompliancewithYukonregulationsandlaws.MoreresearchneededscientistTheprojectlocatedwithinthetraditionalterritoriesoftheYukonGwitchinandinthesecondaryuseareaofGwichinfromtheNWTwouldimpactboththePeelandPorcupinewatershedsandthePorcupinecaribourangeaccordingtoenviron-mentalconsultantAngelinaSabowhobelievesmorebaselineresearchneedstobedoneontheregionbe-foreapprovingtheproposeddevelopment.IthinkthisismovingwaytoofastsaidSabowhohasbeendoingindependentre-searchonthepotentialim-pactsofoilandgasopera-tionsincludingtheuseofhydraulicfracturingintheYukonsince2010.Frommyviewpointasascien-tistIthinkweneedtousetheprecautionaryprincipleandjustgivemoretimeforresearch.Thoughthereweresup-posedtobetwoyearsofconsecutiveseasonalwatermonitoringdoneinprepa-rationfortheprojecttheproposalshowsthatdidnotoccurmeaningthereisnorealexistingbaselineforwaterquality.Thatiscon-sideredalarmingbynearbyFirstNationsgiventhepo-tentialforradioactiveele-mentsintheundergroundwaterthatcouldbebroughttosurfacethroughthedrill-ingasindicatedinnumer-ousinternationalstudies.TwoofthefivesamplestakenofundergroundwaterfortheNorthernCrossproj-ectshowelevatedlevelsofuraniumindicatingthereisapotentialforradioac-tivepollution.OtherstakesinthePeelwatershedtargeturaniumsupportingitspres-enceinthearea.Yukonoilandgasregu-lationsmakenomentionofdealingwithradioactiv-ityacommonissuewithowbackuidsfromdrillingoperationsinotherpartsoftheworld.Anestimated276barrelsor33000litresperdayofproducedwaterisexpectedtosurfacefromundergroundduetodrilling.Someofthatdrillwasteistobestorednexttothehighwayinanunlinedsumpmadeofclay.AllFirstNationshavein-dicatedtheyareopposedtothestorageofpotentiallyradioactivedrillwastenearthehighwayascurrentlyproposed.Thoughtheprojectdoesntspecifythathydraulicfrac-turingwillbeuseditisapossibilityonceexplorationbeginsintheareathatispre-dominantlyshalegas.Frack-inghasneverbeendoneinacircumpolarareaofcontin-uouspermafrostandthereislittleexistingresearchontheimpactstheNorthernCrossprojectcouldhaveoniceunderground.Apartfrompossibleef-fectsonwaterandperma-frostSabosaidthePor-cupinecaribouwilllikelyalsobeimpactedbynoisetrafcandconstructionontheirwinteringrangeandthataccesstolichencouldbeinhibited.PhotoNorthernCrossGwichinFirstNationsareaskingformoretimetoreviewadrillingproposaljustwestoftheYukon-NWTborder.