Nunavut MLA complains about use of aircraft fuel in furnaces

Sanikiluaq homes and public buildings are the only ones in Nunavut to be heated with jet A-1 fuel. (FILE PHOTO)

Sanikiluaq is one of the few remaining communities in Nunavut where aircraft fuel is also used as home heating fuel, Hudson Bay MLA Alan Rumbolt complained in the legislative assembly March 6.

And people in the community are concerned about that and their aging tank farm, Rumbolt said.

That prompted Rumbolt to ask Lorne Kusugak, the minister of Community and Government Services, for an update on what work will be done on Sanikiluaq’s existing bulk fuel storage facility, or tank farm.

“Yes, that longstanding issue [of using jet fuel as home heating fuel], for lack of a better term, will be addressed,” Kusugak said.

Jet A-1, the operational kerosene fuel for all turboprop and turbojet aircraft, is both more flammable and more expensive than P50 heating fuel, a diesel fuel, although it burns more cleanly and is more cold-resistant.

Sanikiluaq’s future tank farm will include tanks for both jet A-1 fuel and P50 heating fuel, so there will be two different supplies of fuel in Sanikiluaq, Kusugak said.

The Request For Proposals for “design upgrades” to the tank farm shows that the construction-ready documents should be ready by June 2013, he said.

Kusugak said his department’s management team is reviewing the work, and a contract should be awarded within the next seven to 10 days.

The 2013-14 capital estimates for CGS also include $300,000 for increases to Sanikiluaq’s “bulk fuel storage capacity,” Rumbolt said.

He wanted to know if that amount of money had changed since the last sitting of the assembly in the fall.

Though Kusugak didn’t have the documents on hand, he said he would double check if the numbers have changed or not.

Rumbolt, after reviewing the RFP for the tank farm project, noted a number of concerns from Sanikiluaq’s mayor.

Those includes the possibility of fuel shortages, the location of the tank farm, the storage facility, and the capacity of the tank farm containment basin.

Kusugak assured Rumbolt that CGS would work closely with the municipality as the project moves forward.