Two sewage trucks back on the road in Nunavut community

Two of Pond Inlet’s three sewage trucks are in operation, while the third waits for a new part to arrive. (PHOTO BY NORMAN KOONOO, FACEBOOK)

A second sewage truck is now serving Pond Inlet, a week after the north Baffin community called a state of emergency due to sewage overflow.

The town is now waiting on a part to fix the community’s third sewage truck and bring it back into operation, a hamlet employee said.

The hamlet is still fielding calls from residents, but the situation is no longer urgent, the hamlet employee said Feb. 17.

The Baffin hamlet first declared a state of emergency Feb. 10, six weeks after the Baffin community of 1,500 began to suffer problems with trucked sewage and water service.

Right after Christmas, the hamlet started having issues with its three sewage trucks, as well as the generator that pumps fresh water from its source. By early February, the hamlet had only one working sewage truck left.

The lack of proper sewage disposal disrupted water use and even forced some residents out of their homes temporarily.

That’s left some people boiling ice and snow to bathe and wash their hands, and using melted iceberg chunks for drinking water.

The backlog of sewage has also caused spills outside of residents’ home and the community’s sewage disposal area, raising community health concerns.

“We’re in a really bad situation,” said Tununiq MLA Joe Enook Feb. 11 from his home in Pond Inlet.

“I’m very lucky that both of my tanks are stored under the house so they don’t freeze, whereas in a lot of housing, the tanks are in the ground, and when they’re not serviced regularly, they freeze,” he said.

“People have had to move out of their homes because their tanks have busted.”

It’s also flu season, Enook said, and while the health centre is encouraging people to wash their hands more frequently, the hamlet has advised that people conserve water.

“Community and Government Services, with the assistance of the Department of Health, are also working with the hamlet to address any health concerns related to sewage overflow,” the Government of Nunavut said in an email to Nunatsiaq News last week.

But the GN does not appear prepared to fly in a new sewage truck via a Hercules aircraft, as requested by the community last week.

The GN sent in a mechanic last week to help repair the second truck and has offered other support to the hamlet.

The hamlet has been advertising for its own certified mechanic for months, but has so far been unable to fill the job.