There's every reason to be concerned now that the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources is taking on the role of policing water use at mine sites, says the NDP critic.

Kate White said it's trouble waiting to happen when the body responsible for promoting mining is also responsible for ensuring mining companies don't break the rules when using and discharging water into the environment.

The very same thing was found by the investigations into the 1992 Westray mine disaster that killed 26 Nova Scotia coal miners, and into the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 oilrig workers and poisoned the Gulf of Mexico, she emphasized in an interview.

"You can't have the promoter being the regulator.”

White said she has concrete faith in the integrity of inspectors charged with carrying out their duties.

In a top-down system where the big dog giving the orders is a politically appointed minister, the integrity of the structure becomes much less sound, she said.

Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Brad Cathers announced last Friday afternoon that the responsibility for water monitoring at hardrock mines will be moved from Environment Yukon to his department.

Cathers indicated in a press release the move will create greater efficiency by ensuring there is no overlap or gaps between the roles of the mining inspectors and water inspectors.

He and Environment Minister Currie Dixon have been unavailable this week to respond to criticism by the New Democrats and the Yukon Conservation Society.

Communication staff with both departments said all questions regarding the new policy are being fielded by the ministers.

What the shift will mean for staffing levels in both departments, whether new positions will be created at additional costs, whether positions will be moved, cut, or otherwise, remain unclear.

Cathers' news release, however, does say the new policy reflects what is already happening in practice, as mining inspecting staff currently carry out water inspections at the Minto Mine and at all placer gold mines.

The new inspection regime will officially take effect next April 1, at the beginning of the next fiscal year, according to the order-in-council approved last Thursday by the territorial cabinet.

The conservation society, like the NDP, suggests the government has created a situation of the fox guarding the hen house.

"When one government department is both regulator and inspector for too many potentially conflicting issues, it becomes impossible to adequately enforce all aspects of their mandate,” the society said Tuesday in a press release.

"In this case, water quality could be sacrificed in the name of quartz mining.”

Lewis Rifkind, the society's mining co-ordinator, said the inspectors and contractors hired to do inspection work are good at their jobs, no questions about it.

Monitoring and other requirements linked to water use are laid out in the licences issued by the Yukon Water Board, he acknowledged.

Rifkind said not everything is black and white, however, and it's those cases where matters fall into a grey area, an inspector from Environment Yukon may view matters differently from an inspector from Energy, Mines and Resources.

When it comes to determining how much wiggle-room a company should be given, it would be much better for the environment if the minister for the Environment was at least part of the discussion, he said.

Rifkind said one can imagine what the decision will be when it's being made by the minister who spends his time promoting mining in the Yukon.

Shifting water monitoring to the mining branch may not be the nail in the coffin, but it is definitely another nail as the Yukon Party government moves forward with its pro-industry platform, Rifkind said.

The conservation society noted in its release the shift in responsibilities comes on the heels of the federal government's budget bill, which included what many felt was a stunning blow to the effectiveness of the Fisheries Act and it protection of water.

The possibility of shifting water inspectors to Energy, Mines and Resources was an issue for the New Democrats during the spring sitting of the territorial legislature.

Cabinet spokeswoman Elaine Schiman said Wednesday there was nothing sneaky about releasing the announcement last Friday just before the long weekend, as was suggested by White.

Cabinet met on the Wednesday, and signed the order Thursday. When it was signed off and returned last Friday morning from Commissioner Doug Phillips' office, the announcement was made, she said.

White, on the other hand, suggested Cathers released it last Friday afternoon on the eve of the holiday weekend, hoping nobody would notice.