Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (July 19/02) - Row upon row of waste oil drums line the village compound.

Some stand upright atop wooden palates, others lie on their side on the ground.

Two patches of oil-soaked, blackened soil are obvious, located outside the fence surrounding the village garage at one end of the light industrial park.

The drums accumulated over years while the community's waste oil burner repeatedly malfunctioned and eventually was abandoned by village council.

The burner was supposed to heat the large, four-bay village garage.

Council has spent the past few months debating how to have the drums shipped south for proper disposal.

At a meeting earlier this month, a proposal from an Edmonton environmental services company came with a provisional price tag of $25,000 to $42,000.

The cost may climb if the waste oil contains glycol or various other fluids as some councillors suspect.

Council deferred a decision until the Sept. 9 meeting, when it's hoped there will be cheaper proposals to consider.

"People don't want to just throw money away," Mayor Tom Wilson said.

Council also remains hopeful that the territorial government will help offset the cost of disposal.

In the meantime, Coun. Kirby Groat urged that all drums are kept upright and organized to lessen the risk of further leakage.

That falls in line with recommendations made by Renewable Resources officer Ken Davidge, who inspected the site last fall.

Davidge said the village has not been charged for oil seepage to date.

"At this point in time we're just advising them on procedures to follow and they've been working on it," he said.