Yukon water board loses jurisdictional tussle with government

The Yukon Water Board has lost a jurisdictional dispute with the territorial government.

It began with an application in 2015 to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board by a family-owned placer mining company, Northern Exposures Inc., to begin mining claims it had purchased on the Indian River and Ruby Creek south of Dawson City.

The screening agency recommended that the company not be allowed to mine undisturbed natural wetlands.

The government disagreed and said the company could mine the wetlands as long as it put a reclamation plan into place that would leave the mined areas "in conditions conducive to natural re-establishment over time of wetland habitat."

But when the Yukon Water Board issued a 10-year water licenceand land use approval last July it said it "is not authorizing any disturbance or alteration to undisturbed, naturally occurring wetlands. This includes any activities outside the undisturbed wetland areas that could affect the wetlands."

The water board said it needed more baseline information including the cumulative effects of ripping up peat bogs to get at the gold underneath. Peat buildsup over thousands of years and cannot be replaced through reclamation.

That was unfair to the placer miner, according to the miner's agent Randy Clarkson.

He told CBC News last September the board's decision rendered the mining claims valueless because the wetlands are in low areas where placer gold is most likely to be found.

The territorial government took the water board to court, saying it was acting beyond its jurisdiction. It asked the Yukon Supreme Court to order the water board to change the water licence to reflect the government's wishes.

The court issued that order on Jan. 26.

The water board's acting director, Neil Salvin, saidthe matter is concluded.