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Iqaluit domestic fuel can come from 59-year-old underground tank: engineers

IQALUIT, NUNAVUT – Engineers say Iqaluit’s domestic fuel source is likely an underground fuel storage tank built in 1962.

8,000 people living in the capital Nunavut have been unable to drink their tap water since October 12, after it was found to contain fuel.

The city said fuel accumulated over time in a raw water tank at its treatment plant and was discovered in a separate tank.

Winnipeg engineers contracted by the City of Iqaluit told a council meeting that the underground site was in the process of being cleaned up.

Engineers say water testing has resumed as of October 24, but the Nunavut government still needs to test itself before the no-consumption order is lifted.

Charles Goss, one of the engineers, said that the spill could have happened weeks or years ago and residents would smell fuel in the water even at very small concentrations.

“There is no long history of people drinking contaminated water,” he told a council meeting on Monday night.

The city said residents began reporting fuel odors in tap water October 2.

City councilors also voted to spend $100,000 on an indoor storage tank to replace the contaminated one.

Iqaluit residents have been able to get bottled water at sites around the city or treated water from a nearby river that is being pumped in by members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

This report by the Canadian Press was first published on November 16, 2021

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