Cold War Cleanup - A Good News Story

DEW Line Cleanup (Image courtesy of The Maple Leaf, National Defense Canada

There are fifteen former DEW Line radar sites in Nunavut, all constructed during the 1950s as part of the North American air defense system. By the mid-1980s all of the sites had been decommissioned, but the abandoned sites remained a major environmental concern for Inuit.

So ten years ago Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., on behalf of the Inuit of Nunavut, signed the NTI-DND Economic Co-operation Agreement for the clean-up of contaminated Department of National Defence DEW Line sites in Nunavut with the Department of National Defence. The Agreement, one of three Co-operation Agreements signed between NTI and DND, was the result of four years of negotiations. Fred Weihs of Consilium was brought in by NTI Vice-President James Eetoolook as a member of the negotiating team. Other members of the team at the time included Charlie Evalik, President of Kitikmeot Inuit Association, Thomasie Alikatuktuk of Qikiqtani Inuit Association, and Brian McLeod of the NTI Business Development Department.

Under the Economic Agreement, NTI and the DND were required to negotiate minimum levels of Inuit employment for each site, lying of 65% to 85% of total site employment. Similarly, minimum levels for participation by Inuit firms in the contracting opportunities are negotiated for each site, and these must lie within the range of 60% to 75% of total contract value for each site. Inuit firms were given first option on sub-contracts issued by contractors during the clean-up of a site, and funding was provided for development and implementation of a training plan to increase the number of Inuit qualified in all areas of the clean-up.

The clean-up of all fifteen DND sites is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2013. For sites completed since 2001, Inuit have obtained over 85,000 person days of employment, ranging between 67% and 79% of total employment at each site. Through the DEW Line Clean-up Training Program, managed by Doreen Donald of Aarluk Consulting, almost 400 Inuit have been trained for employment on sites. On the contracting side, Inuit firms have been awarded contracts as prime contractor on eight out of ten of the completed sites, and with only one exception, between 75% and 91% of the value of the site contracts have gone to Inuit firms as primary or sub-contractors.

Relations between Canada and Inuit on environmental issues, Inuit employment and contracting haven't always run smoothly. But the DEW Line Clean Up Project stands as an outstanding example of what can be achieved with collaboration, good planning, and most of all, good faith.