Whether the Whitehorse tank farm has been cleaned up to standards suitable for residential development will be the focus of the National Energy Board (NEB) hearings here on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Board representatives are in Whitehorse to conduct a technical review of the work that has been done, and to listen to any outstanding concerns that arise.

While local businessman Mike Mickey maintains the site has been cleaned up to suitable standards, the Yukon government argues more work needs to be done before the energy board can issue final approval of the remediation.

Mickey has gone public in the past with his belief that the government's objections are without substance. But merely stating a concern is enough to hold up the process, and delay a multimillion-dollar residential development of 300-plus residential lots, he has said.

Mickey has maintained his position is backed up by some of the country's leading environmental engineering firms which worked on the remediation project, a very large cost to him.

The tank farm area in question is behind the Valleyview subdivision, between Hamilton Boulevard and the Hillcrest subdivision.

It was used as a storage facility for fuel piped in from Skagway, beginning in the early 1940s and ending in 1994.

The NEB issued Yukon Pipelines Ltd. an abandonment order in 1996, detailing what remediation work was required for the tank farm, the pipeline easement and a pump station in Carcross.

Tara O'Donovan, an Alberta-based communication officer with the board, said the technical team will report its findings to the three panel members appointed by the board.

The panel will then decide whether to hold a full-blown public hearing in Whitehorse, or to hold a hearing based solely on written submissions, she said.

A hearing of some sort, O'Donovan added, is required before the panel can issue its decision document.

The technical committee will be hosting a public meeting tonight to review the history of the pipeline, explain the abandonment order and provide the public with information on how to participate in the future public hearing process.

It will begin at 7 p.m. at the High Country Inn.

O'Donovan said there are no fixed timelines for the panel to set down a hearing date, and that it may or may not happen this year.

Once a hearing is held, however, the panel generally issues its decision within 12 weeks, she pointed out.

The technical conference is scheduled for two days to provide the parties with an opportunity to address and debate specific issues.

Several parties have been granted intervener status for the technical conference, including Yukon Pipelines, the territorial government, Environment Canada and the City of Whitehorse.

In written submissions to the board, the city notes its interest in seeing the tank farm land developed for residential purposes once remediation is complete.