Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (May 13/02) - There's no word yet if the remaining eight million litres of bad gas in Nunavut can be "fixed" or if snowmobile owners can expect compensation.

Premier Paul Okalik said last week he hopes the Alberta Research Council will find a remedy. As for compensation, he said: "we're looking into our legal options."

Practical tests in April finally proved gas in the Baffin and Kivalliq regions damages snowmobile engines.

But what if the gas can't be fixed? Because of ice conditions, the government can't bring in fresh gas until late summer or early fall. And, although the snowmobile season ends soon, bad gas will likely wreak havoc on motorboats all summer long.

The supplier, Northern Transportation Company Ltd., isn't offering any concrete information.

"I can't discuss the details of the contract, but we do share a concern with the government," said Kirk Vander Ploeg, NTCL's marketing manager in Iqaluit.

Despite results from chemical and practical tests that show the gas is missing a cleansing additive and gums up snowmobile engines, he said: "There's still no clear picture of what the problem is."

Vander Ploeg refused to speculate on possible solutions.