QIKIQTARJUAQ/BROUGHTON ISLAND - Indian and Northern Affairs Canada will be cleaning up a weather station and DEW Line site near Qikiqtarjuaq and residents said they are looking forward to having this done as they are located near two popular fishing and hunting spots.

The department plans to have the Padloping Island weather station and Fox-E Durban Island Distant Early Warning Line Radar station sites remediated by the end of the summer of 2013.

"These are good hunting areas for the community," said Harry Alookie, manager, Nattivik Hunters and Trappers Organization.

He said Arctic char fishing is popular near both sites as well as walrus hunting.

Officials from INAC held a community meeting at the hamlet gym on Feb. 21 to update residents on their plans.

INAC is responsible for managing contaminated sites on crown land in Nunavut. There are approximately 350 suspected or contaminated sites.

"Padloping and Durban during our assessment came up as a high priority for action," said Natalie Plato,

director of the contaminated sites program with INAC.

Located about 100 kilometres to the southeast of Qikiqtarjuaq, she said the sites are about 25 kilometres apart.

Plato said the DEW Line site at Durban Island was constructed in the 1950s during the Cold War while Padloping was the original settlement for Inuit in the region. During the Second World War, the American air force set up a weather station which was used until the late 1960s.

It is believed residents moved from the island to the current location of Qikiqtarjuaq between 1964 and 1968.

Both sites are riddled with contaminants including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead, nickel and asbestos. There are also hydrocarbons in the soil, abandoned buildings, non-hazardous metals and wood debris.

This summer, environmental, archeological and geotechnical assessment will be done at the sites. A tender for bids will be put out and interested parties will be taken to the site.

Bids will come in during the fall and winter, with the bid scheduled to be awarded in late winter 2012.

Depending on the contractor, supplies would arrive onsite via sealift in summer 2012.

"These are our least-accessible sites, no airstrips, all access will be by sea or helicopter so they are a tad more challenging," Plato said.

Estimated costs for clean-up at both sites is between $15 to $20 million.

She said 27 people signed in at the meeting and there was a fair amount of discussion about the history and significance of the sites.

Alookie said about 15 years ago, the hamlet tried to clean up Padloping but had to stop due to safety concerns. The Padloping site has remants of tent rings and the mess hall on it. He said at the meeting residents wanted to know what would happen with these.

Plato said debris found on site will be handpicked and remaining structures will be left intact and the cemetery will be avoided.

A question was asked at the meeting about a cove on Padloping where many people fish for cod, char, mussels and landlocked Arctic char and if the animals have been tested.

Plato said while there have been no samples done, some will be taken this summer.

Alookie said he asked about Fox-D Kivitoo, a weather station, about 113 kilometres away.

"The old barrels containing hydrocarbons, oils, used to be buried, now they are starting to show up and the oil from these barrels is oozing into the ocean," he said adding this site was an airstrip.

INAC said there are no plans to remediate the site but this summer representatives will visit the site with a local resident to assess and investigate.

This is not the first time sites near the community have been remediated. INAC completed the clean-up of Fox-C Ekalugad Fiord, north of Qikiqtarjuaq in 2008-2009.

Residents were curious as to if there would be jobs available once cleanup starts.

"It will be an excellent opportunity for the community to participate on the employment side of things," Alookie said.

Plato said contractors are encouraged to hire Inuit.

"Generally we have anywhere from 65 to 75 per cent Inuit employment and we certainly expect the same on these two projects or even higher levels," she said.

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