Fears of poisoned water wells surrounded discussion of a proposed contaminated lands facility near the Mayo cutoff.

As well, potentially affected residents are being asked to sign a petition reflecting their concerns.

At their meeting Monday evening, members of city council heard from local resident Harry Kulych. He said he fears for the safety of his well water if a contaminated lands facility is built on Haeckel Hill, about two kilometres from his house.

'The site is well above houses,' Kulych said of site being planned by Castle Rock Enterprises.

He said he feels many of the surrounding residents' wells would become contaminated if the site is permitted to move forward.

Kulych said he believes there are many factors that could affect the stability of the project. They include earthquakes, heavy rains or mechanical failures which could lead to a pooling of contaminants or leakage into the ground.

'I believe having this elevated will pose a challenge,' Kulych said.

'It's not likely any contaminants would pool on the hill; it would likely go downhill.'

There is also a petition being circulated around the city asking for people's input on the project.

The petition reads: 'Are you concerned with the land treatment facility being proposed in the quarry adjacent to the Haeckel Hill area in Porter Creek?

'If you have questions or concerns with the proposal, please sign this petition so a representative from your area can take this to city council and voice your concerns,' the petition reads.

According to council documents, Castle Rock is seeking to treat soil that has been contaminated with hydrocarbons on a site next to their current quarry on the Haeckel Hill Ski Road.

'The applicant has obtained a land Treatment Facility Permit from the Yukon Ministry of Environment authorizing the construction of the facility, and a review has been undertaken by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board,' council documents state.

'Contaminated soils and liquids received at the land treatment facility will be sampled and analyzed to determine remediation requirements. Remediation of contaminated soils will occur naturally with soil turning and fertilizer additives where appropriate.'

Paul Inglis is an environmental consultant with Access Consulting, the company assisting Castle Rock with their application.

Inglis said this morning he doesn't feel concerns over leaking contaminants are warranted.

'It's going to be vaguely up-hill from some residential areas that are three kilometres or more away,' he said. 'It's on a flat surface at the edge of the quarry.

'It's a square area with a two-metre high berm. The chances of water building up in the cell or breaching the berm are virtually non-existent.'

Inglis said the poly liner in the planned facility includes 30 centimetres of sand below the liner and 30 centimetres above it. That would insulate the ground from the potential of hydrocarbons entering the groundwater, he said.

He said the company would have a specialist on site during the installation of the treatment facility and liner.

Inglis also said special care would be taken to ensure the liner wasn't ripped during installation, the time when liner problems have traditionally occured.

'Tears historically happen during the installation of the liner.'

Wells set up to monitor the quality of the groundwater will also be dug, he added.

'We know there are a number of contaminated sites in the Yukon that are going to need to be remediated.'

The only other site in the Yukon that's accepting contaminated soil is a facility owned by Arctic Backhoe on the McLean Lake Road.

Karen Baltgailis, the executive director of the Yukon Conservation Society, said this afternoon she has a problem with the planned remediation site.

'My biggest question would be: why put this here?'

'It really doesn't make a lot of sense to spread the treatment of contaminated sites to a variety of sites; it should all be done in one area,' Baltgalis said.

She said the area is environmentally sensitive and allowing another industrial activity could lead to more applications coming forward.