Broughton Island (Feb 20/06) - The fuel spill at the Qikiqtarjuaq hamlet office is expected to be cleaned up soon, much to the joy of the staff.

They were left with little options after 1,000 litres of diesel fuel leaked from the building's 30-year-old storage tank last month, causing the diesel fumes to hang in the air.

The spill is relatively small, mostly outside in a cold climate, and diesel does not vaporize readily, so is little risk, said Dale Hills, an industrial hygienist with the Workers Compensation Board. "It isn't hazardous to breathe - it is just a bad smell."

Land and municipal structures are not the responsibility of the territorial government, so senior administrative officer Mike Richards was at a loss on what steps he could take.

But luckily, two weekends ago, a group from the government, including Tom Livingstone, acting director of technical services with community and government services (CGS), checked the situation out. "The minute (CGS) heard about this, my response was to hit the ground running," said Livingstone.

The fuel leaked into the crawl space and around the building. It is now frozen in the earth, so is stable for the time being.

They plan to get rid of the fumes by ventilating the crawl space using inline fans; dig out the fuel that has saturated the sand around the building; and keep the fuel which can't be dug up contained.

This will be done through monitoring wells - pipes stuck in the ground to detect fuel movement - and a trench that will intercept fuel if it does migrate.

Once Dillon Engineering completes its report on how to tackle to problem, the job of fixing it will begin.

Livingstone could only provide "as soon as possible" as a time frame and has "no idea" of cost-estimates at this time.

The diesel smell has mostly dissipated, said Richards.

"A lot of the fumes are gone, although you can still notice a trace of it when you walk in the door."