Both Robert Martel, project manager for Defence Construction Canada and Tony Downs, director general of environment for the Department of National Defense say they hope the talks can resume in Edmonton with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI).

"We have to agree on cleanup standards and participation of the Nunavut Final Agreement land claim," said Downs.

James Eetoolook, vice-president of NTI however, wrote to Downs earlier this month, complaining about the failure of DND to set aside enough money to cover the cleanup costs.

There are 21 DEW Line sites in the NWT being managed by DND and there's another 21 controlled by the Department of Northern Affairs. The sites are former U.S. military Distant Early Warning radar bases strewn across the Arctic. They were operational in the 1950s to mid-60s. But technology gradually made them obsolete.

The U.S. military had custody of the sites until the early 1990s. They were then handed over to the Canadian government.

Some estimates of the cost of cleaning up the 21 DND sites reach $248 million. Six sites in the Inuvialuit settlement region account for $68 million in cleanup costs estimated by the government. The Nunavut sites are expected to cost about $180 million.

In Nunavut, cleanup would follow the same process as the Inuvialuit, with contracts going out to tender.

Downs said negotiations went on with NTI for about 18 months before breaking off.

The issue of compensation from the U.S. military is a complicated one, as well.

A "full and final settlement" was made last year for the United States to provide $100 million (US) over 10 years for the cleanup of the 21, plus one in Goose Bay, Nfld., and another in Haines Junction, Yukon.

The payments will come in the form of military hardware selected by Canada. Although the offer was made and accepted in June 1996 and formally signed the following October, it still has to pass through Congress, said Downs.

The funds would be put into the "foreign military sales account" for access by Canada, he said.

NTI isn't happy with the deal, however. "NTI is shocked that the settlement does not appear to positively affect the cleanup of DEW Line sites," Eetoolook wrote in the letter to Downs. He also asked DND to set aside an additional $100 million for the project.

Downs, however, played down concerns that the funds won't be used for the cleanup. He called the deal is merely an administrative procedure "to facilitate the exchange of notes agreement."

The American government's fiscal year starts October 1, there will be no payment until then, he adds.