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City of Iqaluit fined $100,000 for sewage spills

Five separate spills during 2001 labour dispute were caused by lift station malfunctions

KIRSTEN MURPHY

The City of Iqaluit was fined $100,000 on July 30, after pleading guilty to one count of discharging sewage into Koojesse Inlet under the Fisheries Act.

An estimated 822,000 litres of human waste overflowed into the inlet on five separate occasions between April 23 and July 4, 2001.

Malfunctioning lift stations caused the "deleterious" matter to flow into the bay, home to fish and marine mammals, the court heard. The public was unaware of the incidents until they were reported by the media.

Marine life was not harmed by spills, an Environment Canada investigation determined.

The spills were caused by several malfunctions, ranging from rags in the pipes to a broken belt. Three of five spills were due to mechanical malfunctions at sewage lift station No. 1. The two other spills were caused by problems at lift station No. 2.

A demure Mayor John Matthews and acting chief administrative officer Okalik Curley appeared in court with Yellowknife Lawyer Charles Thompson.

"The city fell short of the standards required and did not exercise due diligence, but it was not deliberate," Thompson said. "There was no attempt to cover up or hide the discharges had taken place."

Thompson noted the inlet’s important proximity to the city, but minimized it’s environmental value.

"It’s not an untouched area of pristine Arctic wilderness," he said.

The sentence was a joint submission between Thompson and Crown lawyer John Cliffe.

The largest spill — as much as 750,000 litres — went unnoticed for several hours on June 16 when an alarm failed to notify municipal employees. The suspected cause of the alarm’s failure was a power outage. In addition, the city was short-staffed because of a labour dispute between municipal workers and city management, the court heard.

"The city did not have the personnel to conduct routine maintenance and inspections on the lift stations and pumps as often as happens during normal operations, nor did the city have the personnel to react to problems with the pumps as quickly as they normally would. These factors contributed to the sewage discharges," Cliffe said.

The $100,000 fine is broken into three areas, with $65,000 going to the Environmental Damages Fund administered by Environment Canada. The money will fund the promotion and protection of fish and fish habitats in Nunavut. The city has until March 31, 2003 to pay. The city must spend $25,000 to create a policy and procedure manual for employees. The manual must be complete by May 31, 2003. The remaining $10,000 is a court fine due Aug. 31, 2002.

In handing down his sentence, Justice Robert Kilpatrick noted the case’s significance.

"This is the first prosecution of its kind since the creation of Nunavut," Kilpatrick said.

Mayor Matthews said money has been set aside to pay the fines.

"It’s always a relief of sorts to get resolution at the end of the day. This has been hanging over our heads for several months, so we did get that resolution today," Matthews said.

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