Maria Canton
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Jan 17/00) - Although they were asking for six years, the Town of Iqaluit was only granted a one-year water licence from the Nunavut Water Board.

Following a two-day hearing process last September -- where submitted material from regulatory bodies such as DIAND, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and Environment Canada took several weeks to review -- the water board made a recent decision to grant a strict one-year licence.

"I guess you could say we were surprised by the one-year licence," said town engineer Denis Bedard.

"But after looking at the licence, it is understandable why they did it."

Several conditions are attached to the licence, including the submission of a solid waste management plan and results from a study that will assess the link between air emissions from the open-burn dump and the impacts on fresh water.

The nine-member board also wants to see the start-up and initial operation of the new sewage treatment plant, as well as plans for remediation of the current lagoon.

"From (the board's) perspective, they want to see the sewage treatment plant complete and running and a comprehensive solid waste management plan that will identify how to handle municipal waste for the next 20 years," said Bedard.

The new sewage treatment plant, which is coming in with a price tag of just over $7 million, is scheduled to be in operation by mid-February.

And after operating for a few months, says Bedard, the town will prepare to empty and remediate the lagoon.

The water licence regulates water use and waste disposal activities for municipal purposes. The expired licence was issued in 1996 by the NWT Water Board.

The new licence is in effect until the end of this year and town officials suspect the water board will want to hold more hearings in the fall.