Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (Aug 09/99) - The NWT Power Corp. said a spill of 1,500 litres of engine coolant in Iqaluit is under control.

Known as glycol, the coolant seeped down a drain and into a small pond about 200 metres downstream from the town's water reservoir.

In a news release issued the day after the spill was discovered, the corporation stated it poses no threat to the town's water supply.

The corporation's director of Nunavut Operations, Axel Have, said the glycol leaked out of a faulty valve over a floor drain in the power plant on the July 24 weekend.

Officials discovered the problem on Monday, July 26, after noticing the temperature of the office fallen. Heat from the anti-freeze is used to heat the office.

Workers started pumping water and glycol out of the pond that afternoon, after notifying the Department of Sustainable Development.

"We've recovered 12 barrels, but it's a mixture of glycol and water," said Have.

"We just had an environmental engineer come in here yesterday to determine how much was glycol and how much was water," he said Thursday.

Have said glycol is easier to control than oil and less harmful. Because it is heavier than water it collected in the bottom of the pond.

"It settled to the bottom," said Have. "So the bottom of the pond was green."

Unlike oil, glycol is biodegradable, said Have.

The pond is on a steep slope and part of a stream that flows from nearby Lake Geraldine into Frobisher Bay.

Have said the stream is being sampled to determine how much, if any, of the glycol escaped.