Rankin Inlet (July 28/04) - The new Rankin Inlet solid waste disposal facility still has a number of challenges to be overcome.

That was the message delivered to hamlet council earlier this month by Ivan Gramlich, resident engineer and project superintendent.

Gramlich, who came on-board the project this year, said work done to date is not as acceptable as one would like to see coming onto a site.

He said material coming out of the Meliadine pit has little or no binder.

If further aggregate uncovered at Meliadine is not more suitable, an alternate source will have to be found.

"We'll probably have to look at the Dianne pit, which seems to have considerably more clay-and-silt content," said Gramlich.

"Even with that, we'd have to blend the material with a finer sand to produce the road cap."

Coun. David Ningeongan expressed concern over any plan to extract material from the Diane pit.

He said that would not bode well for future costs to the hamlet.

"I'm more than a little worried about the material we'll have left for operation and maintenance," said Ningeongan.

"The costs of O&M could get quite expensive to the hamlet, especially if we lose most of the material that's available at the Dianne pit."

Work at the new Rankin dump is being done by Ferguson Lake Lodge.

The project was slated to have been completed in 2003.

Gramlich said the project is falling behind schedule again, mainly due to the equipment being used.

He said it is still not known when the contractor's new grader will arrive in the hamlet.

"It's not impossible to do the project, but it's slow and tedious," said Gramlich.

"I don't think the contractor's listing of the end of August as a scheduled completion date is realistic.

"Mid-September might be possible, but the end of the month is more likely."

Community Government and Services municipal planning engineer Brian Purdy assured council that progress at the site will be closely monitored this year.

"We will be monitoring the progress on a weekly basis," said Purdy.

"If we see the schedule starting to deteriorate, we will develop alternative measures and be back to discuss them with you."