Cape Dorset (Mar 10/03) - The phone lines to hamlet maintenance crews are burning hotter than some furnaces in this Baffin community.

Despite tests that show heating oil in Cape Dorset meets minimum Arctic standards, people like housing director Mike Perry say bad fuel could be the only reason furnaces aren't firing properly.

"If it meets minimum standards then the minimum standards aren't good enough, but I would want a second opinion," said Perry.

He said he believes the fuel doesn't have the proper anti-gelling additive.

Hamlet workers have been called to more than 100 extra service calls during the last three months when burners on several furnaces have failed to ignite due to deposits of unburned fuel.

Even after furnaces are serviced and cleaned, workers have had to return to repeat the process two weeks later.

Perry said the problem isn't with all units, only with those where the fuel enters the system cold.

"That would be consistent with a fuel entering a system in a jelly-like state," he said.

Aside from the fear that homes will be left without heat, which could be catastrophic in -40 C temperatures, hamlet workers are also racking up overtime hours.

The hamlet has never had a similar problem in the past.

"With identical symptoms occurring with unusual frequency there is something wrong," said Perry.

The Nunavut Power Corporation sent samples of the fuel to be tested by the Alberta Research Council.

"The tests we got back said it meets the standards of arctic diesel," said Mac Maidens, Nunavut Power Corp. area superintendent.

Perry is waiting to see what happens if warmer weather settles over the community next week as forecast.

"If the problems disappear in warm weather that would also be consistent with a failure of the anti-gelling ingredient," said Perry.

The Government of Nunavut's petroleum product division is also sending additional samples south for testing.

They hope to determine if the fuel is deficient.

Director Susan Makpah said the fuel passed all preliminary testing before it was sent to Cape Dorset when it was shipped to the community last summer.

She wouldn't speculate on what could be causing the problem with the heating systems.

"We're trying to find out what the problem is," she said.