by Jennifer Pritchett
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 14/97) - Last week's power outage caused quite a stink.

A fire in the Kam Lake sewage separation station after a short blackout Thursday morning destroyed the system's battery backup that keeps sewage pumping into the storage lagoon.

Neil Jamieson, Yellowknife's director of public safety, said an electricity consultant is investigating the cause of the fire.

"It may be connected to the power outage," he said. "And the report may or may not be able to give us definitive results."

Firefighters contained the fire soon after they arrived at 3 a.m., but were unable to save a dozen battery packs used to power pumps that carry sewage to the lagoon for treatment.

They were back the next day to clean out the burned battery packs and disperse the fumes.Jamieson said older batteries from other city sewage stations have been temporarily installed at the Kam Lake station, the largest of nine in Yellowknife.

New battery packs are on order for the Kam Lake operation, but Jamieson said he doesn't know how much they will cost.

If the backup system fails in a power outage, Jamieson said that it could potentially become a serious problem. Sewage would end up going straight into Kam lake, he added.