Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Inuvik (July 19/02) - An Inuvik family found a modern-day monster in their front yard last week.

Derrick Weitzel moved his pregnant wife and their two kids into a hotel after he discovered gallons of foul-smelling sludge in the drainage ditch outside their home and business on Industrial Road.

Weitzel said he and his family noticed the foul smell for a week and were all suffering flu-like symptoms before he found the source of the smell.

"We were all throwing up and I'm still congested," Weitzel said.

At first he thought the smell was a dead animal and looked around the property for a carcass.

"You could smell it everywhere," Weitzel said. "It was a strong onion-like smell -- it almost knocked me on my rear-end."

He saw a murky brown liquid with grey and black rings puddled in the drainage ditch and called the 24-Hour spill line.

They couldn't help him, so he called the Town of Inuvik. They blocked off the area and called in Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development (RWED).

He said RWED came out and poured gravel over the spill area, but couldn't tell him what the substance was.

"It was pretty scary not having anyone giving us answers," he said. "We ended-up staying in a hotel because no one told us anything."

RWED's manager of Wildlife and Fisheries Tim Devine said the initial analysis of the contaminant was received last Thursday, but it was not yet determined how much was spilled.

"The substance appears to be sludge from propane tanks," Devine said. "It's a derivative from propane and people are required to clean out their tanks."

The analysis report detailed that the contaminant breakdown was a mix of hydrogen sulphide, propanols, toluene, methylpentanol, propane trisulphide, propane disulphide and diethyltrithiolane isomer.

Devine said the charge for release of a contaminant into the environment carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and jail time can be assessed depending on the seriousness of the offence.

At press time, Weitzel said the site was being excavated and he's moved his family back home.

"They're going to remove everything from the ditch and replace it with new dirt," he said.

"You can still smell it, but at least it's out of my yard."

RWED is continuing its investigation.