GN officials assess sewage spill in Nunavut community

GN engineers will be in Pangirtung this week to assess a sewage spill from the community’s treatment plant. (FILE PHOTO)

The Government of Nunavut is sending engineers to Pangnirtung this week to try to find the source and extent of a sewage leak in the Baffin community.

The hamlet’s senior administrative officer Shawn Trepanier said the spill was discovered at the community’s sewage plant Sept. 21, and reported to the territorial government right away.

“We started the clean-up right away,” he said. “And we’ve shut down the plant because it’s still unclear what caused the spill.”

In the meantime, Trepanier said sewage in the community of 1,500 is going to the hamlet’s old lagoon, instead of being treated in the plant.

Trepanier said officials with the Department of Community and Government Services are working to identify just how much sewage has leaked into the fiord.

On Sept. 25, the health department issued an advisory, asking residents not to harvest clams anywhere within 10 kilometres of the community, including Kingardjuak Point and Aulatsivik Point, until further notice.

Pangnirtung’s sewage plant is located about a half-kilometre outside the community.

But Trepanier said the spill does not pose any risks to residents for now.

Eating shellfish like clams, which are contaminated with sewage, can lead to serious illnesses, such as Hepatitis A, a highly contagious liver infection caused by drinking contaminated water or eating raw shellfish from water polluted with sewage, or an illness like gastro-enteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines, typically caused by bacterial toxins.