Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

NUNAVUT
Mechanical failure caused a tank to leak 14,000 litres of jet fuel onto the beach and into the sea at the long-range radar station on Brevoort Island, said an official with the operations and maintenance contractor.

The spill was noticed July 29 when workers started pumping water out of the berms surrounding two fuel tanks on the beach of the island near the mouth of Cumberland Sound, said Robert Champagne, senior manager of maintenance at Nasittuq Corp.

The welding of a pipe protruding from one of the tanks had cracked, he added, but Champagne could not yet explain why, only speculating it might have been caused by the movement of the ice in the berm.

"What I can assure everybody it was not a cause of negligence. It was a mechanical failure that is being investigated," he said. "A certain amount of water mixed with fuel was pumped out and the amount that was pumped out was in the order of 14,000 litres. We estimate about 4,000 litres was spilled on the ground and about 10,000 reached the sea, which is fairly close.

"The fuel that was spilled at sea could not be recouped. However, everything that's on the ground is being cleaned up as we speak."

Absorbent material had been placed to stop the leak and prevent any further spills, he added, and the contents of the defective fuel tank were pumped into another one.

Champagne said the weather and seas were too rough the day of the spill to allow for collection of the fuel that leaked into the sea.

The tank in question has a capacity of 653,700 litres but contained only 27,000 litres of Jet A-1 fuel at the time of the incident, he said.

He added the tank has since been fixed and is now back in service for the short term.

The federal government, which owns the long-range radar site as part of the North Warning System, has started an investigation as potential violations were spotted, said Denise Antle, a spokeswoman with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. She said Environment Canada inspectors were headed to the island once the weather cleared.

"They opened an investigation," she said. "Our inspectors confirmed the spill has now stopped and clean-up efforts by the contractor are forging ahead. In terms of whether charges will be laid, I can't speak to it because at this point, the investigation is open."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.