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Iqaluit gravel shortage threatens construction

"We passed the crisis line a couple of months ago"

JOHN THOMPSON

Between $60 to $70 million worth of construction projects in Iqaluit are in jeopardy because of a gravel shortage that has struck Nunavut's capital.

Projects at stake include an expansion of the new Plateau subdivision and the raising of the Lake Geraldine Dam - two measures intended to cope with Iqaluit's booming population.

"We're past the crisis line. The crisis line was a couple months ago," said John Jacobsen, owner of Tower Arctic, during a meeting on Monday with officials from the City of Iqaluit, the Government of Nunavut and the federal government.

Jacobsen warned that unless gravel is secured soon, the entire construction season will be lost.

"Five to six weeks from now, it's too late," he said.

Iqaluit's flat out of gravel, except for one pile of material set aside for chip-sealing three kilometres of city streets this summer.

The only source of gravel for the city is North 40, an area that also happens to be contaminated with heavy metals, petroleum and asbestos. Most believe the contaminants are a legacy from the site's role as a metal dump used by the United States Air Force during the 1950s.

No one wants to claim ownership of the site, because that could mean ultimately having to clean it up - at a cost of millions of dollars.

This ownership dispute is important because it's now preventing the city from receiving a new water license from the Nunavut Water Board. Federal regulators insist the city needs this new licence to quarry gravel at North 40 this summer.

But the licence requires a clean-up plan for the entire North 40 site - a condition the city won't agree to, for fear of being stuck with the bill.

"We're not spending ratepayers' money," said Deputy Mayor Glenn Williams.

As he puts it, "No licence, no gravel."

And without gravel, construction in Iqaluit will grind to a halt.

Jacobsen warned that all three levels of government could wind up with a class-action lawsuit on their hands, launched by construction companies to compensate them for contracts lost because of the impasse.

"When are the powers that be going to stop the silliness?" Jacobsen asked. "People, get off your asses and start something. I've been hearing the same argument I've been hearing for three years.

"Let's get on with it."

But neither city staff nor federal officials appear willing to budge from their positions.

City staff maintain that the federal government should take the lead in cleaning up North 40, as they did with Upper Base.

The city also says it doesn't need a water license to quarry in North 40 because it says its operations won't disturb the surrounding water.

Federal regulators disagree. They maintain a water license is needed, with a clean-up plan. Meanwhile, officials from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada show no interest in assuming responsibility for North 40.

That leaves the Government of Nunavut left to broker a deal between the two warring parties.

David Akoak, an assistant deputy minister for Community and Government Services, said senior staff in his department would work this week on a way of breaking the impasse.

Last month, the city committed to building a five-kilometre road past Upper Base to a new gravel source, which should provide gravel for several decades. This summer surveyors will assess the new supply and mark out the proposed road's route.

But that's no help for contractors such as Jacobsen this summer, with the new gravel supply still out of reach for at least a year.

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