Work on containment berm at Eagle mine should take 4 weeks, says Yukon gov’t [Video]

Construction of a containment berm to deal with contaminated water at the troubled Eagle mine in the Yukon should take about four weeks to complete, according to officials with the territorial government.

And the territory is defending its timeline to complete the work on the berm, after being accused by former Victoria Gold officials of being relatively “passive” since the mine was placed in receivership last month.

“Well, I would say it [the berm]’s being constructed now, and I’m very confident in the excellent engineering team and construction team that’s doing the work now,” said Lauren Haney, deputy minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, at a media briefing on Friday morning.

“I would also say that at any time Victoria Gold was certainly welcome to have taken the objective and the design parameters provided to it and built on that with their own expertise and make it happen. They chose not to.”

Government officials say construction of the berm is an essential …