Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 25/02) - NWT Rock Services will have to replace at least one diesel engine and spend tens of thousands for repairs after some of its equipment was sabotaged over the weekend.

A hydraulic drill and a backhoe were severely damaged after someone funnelled rock chips into the oil receptacles on both pieces of equipment.

"When you drill a hole in rock you get little chips of rock. Someone scooped up some of that stuff and took the time to open up the back of the drill and take two oil filler caps off and dump rocks in there," said Lance Gomolchuk at NWT Rock.

"They then returned the cap to its original position and the rocks got pulled down into the engine. Now the engine is seized up."

RCMP are investigating and asking that anyone in the community who knows the perpetrator to contact police.

NWT Rock was working under contract to Nova Construction, which is clearing 3,000 cubic metres of rock on a lot between St. Joseph school and Northern Fancy Meats.

Nova plans to build a multi-family condominium there in the spring.

Work started on the site about a week ago. NWT Rock left its backhoe and drill on Saturday night and returned Monday afternoon.

The drill ran for three minutes before refusing to start again.

Going too far

A new engine for the drill will cost $20,000. The saboteur or saboteurs also filled the backhoe's oil well with rock chips.

NWT Rock workers were able to drive the backhoe back to the shop, but Gomolchuk thinks that engine will need to be replaced as well.

The cost of repairs and new equipment will run to $60,000, he estimates.

"We're just a northern company trying to do a job," he said. "Totally destroying it (the equipment) has gone one step too far."

And, he says, he's not blaming students.

"It wasn't a bunch of sixth or seventh-grade kids.

"It was done by someone who intentionally knew what they were doing," he said, noting the care with which the oil caps had been reattached and cleaned of rock chips.

Construction workers across the entire city leave equipment unattended at the end of the day. This is the first serious incident involving that equipment that Gomolchuk has heard of.

"Obviously some of the residents didn't want the development to happen," he said.

Neither the city's municipal enforcement division nor Nova Construction had received any complaints about the development.