Iqaluit (Feb 24/03) - A power shortage at one of Iqaluit's lift stations caused 24,000 litres of raw sewage to overflow and seep into Koojessee Inlet.

The amount spilled is equivalent to about one-quarter of the water in Iqaluit's public swimming pool.

Koojessee Inlet is located adjacent to the city.

"There is no public safety risk right now, and the environmental risk will have to be determined by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans," said Iqaluit's chief administrator, Rick Butler.

Municipal workers discovered the spill on Feb. 19 at about 8:30 a.m. during a daily check and immediately called for sewage trucks to be sent over to stop the overflow.

By 10:30 a.m. the lift station was operating normally. Nunavut Power Corporation repaired a fuse on the power pole near the lift station.

The city does not have a backup power system for the lift station.

Pumps at the lift station are used to send sewage to the lagoon where it is treated and slowly discharged into the bay. When the power outage occurred, the pumps stopped working and the sewage started overflowing.

"Our guys did the best they could and they did everything they could," said Butler.

City workers dealt with another spill in the same manner earlier in the month.

Pipes between the Baffin Regional Hospital and the Frobisher Inn in Iqaluit burst earlier this month releasing about 11,000 litres of sewage.

The spill was discovered on Feb. 10 and city workers had most of it cleaned within a couple of days.

Butler said the spill was the result of a broken pipeline. He said many of the lines in the city are aging and that's why repairs need to be done.

"This is why we are looking at doing the whole $51 million fix. We can't keep going like this," he said.

The "$51 million fix" is part the city's proposed five-year general plan. Over 70 per cent, or $35 million, of the plan is allocated to improving water supplies and developing a sustainable sewage system.

Butler said if the plan is approved, the worst pipes in the city will be replaced within the next three years and an overall maintenance will be completed within five years. He also said a backup power system and alarm to notify workers of problems at the lift stations should be installed by the 2003 summer.

Iqaluit recently pleaded guilty in court to violating the Fisheries Act and paid a fine of $100,000. The charge was a result of sewage spills into the fish-bearing Koojessee Inlet between April and July of 2001.