Iqaluit to move eyesore fuel drums off the beach

A crew clean up abandoned fuel drums from a site in Nunavik, in an undated file photo. Starting Sept. 10, the City of Iqaluit, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and Nunavut’s Department of Environment will start removing hazardous fuel drums from the Iqaluit beach in the first phase of a big cleanup effort. (FILE PHOTO)

If you don’t use it, then lose it — that’s a warning from the city ahead of their new cleanup campaign for oil drums on the Iqaluit beach.

The City of Iqaluit, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and Nunavut’s Department of Environment will remove all oil drums remaining on the beach between the Canadian Coast Guard building and the old cemetery beginning Thursday, Sept 10.

Iqalungmiut are asked before that date to remove from the beach any drums they wish to keep.

“Unused oil drums are a hazard for people and the environment, and must be removed,” the city said in a news release issued Aug 26.

In a verbal update on the project provided Aug. 25 to Iqaluit City Council, Matthew Hamp, the director of engineering and public works, said all funding needed for the project is already available to the city.

“It’s one of the things we can do now with the money we’ve already been given,” Hamp said.

The project is one component in a larger phased effort by the city to clean up the Iqaluit beachfront.

All drums collected on the beach will be taken to the landfill to be processed, and then shipped south for disposal.

There is currently no plan yet by the city to include Apex in the cleanup, but the project will expand as it is implemented.

“Apex is not forgotten,” said Robyn Campbell, the sustainability coordinator, in her update to council.

In the coming weeks, Iqalungmiut will be reminded of the disposal date through multiple media sources, including posters, flyers, radio and on Facebook.