NANISIVIK - Largely dormant for years, Nanisivik will become a hub of activity again when construction begins on a naval refuelling station in 2011.

Starting in 2015, the $100-million Nanisivik Naval Facility will serve as a fuel depot for Canadian Forces and Coast Guard ships operating in the High Arctic.

The mine at Nanisivik, which shut down in 2002, has a deep-water jetty which the navy will still be able to use, once on-shore facilities have been built. These will include a massive new tank farm designed to last 40 years, cargo storage and living quarters.

The government has not yet hired a contractor to design the facility. Rod Watson, project manager with the Department of National Defence, said an architectural firm should be chosen by the end of September. The design process could take up to a year.

Watson said the government is aware of the military's dubious environmental legacy in the North, with decades-old sites still waiting to be cleaned up years after they were decommissioned.

"Construction in the 1950s is different from what it is now," he said. "We want to start off on a clean slate and build all our facilities that are in compliance with the current environmental regulations and guidelines for above-ground storage tanks."

Most of the staff at Nanisivik will be seasonal military personnel during the shipping season. But the facility will also need security and caretaking staff year-round, jobs that will go to residents of Arctic Bay, according to Lt. Stephan Campbell of Navy Public Affairs.

"There will also be opportunities for local contractors/local labourers to participate in construction work," Campbell wrote in an e-mail. "However, at this time the extent of work and number of individual contracts that may be required is unknown."

Nanisivik's strategic location just off the Northwest Passage will enable such ships to operate for longer in the region, according to Campbell.

Federal consulting personnel were on-site last week to collect soil samples for an environmental assessment.

Watson said he was expecting the report within the next three to six months. Watson said the Department of National Defence needed a baseline study of the site so the department would know what was there in designing and operating a fuel depot.