'In terms of core municipal 'services; the situation is 'stable;.'

Pangnirtung remained under a state of emergency this past week after torrential rains eroded soil around the community's two bridges, cutting off access to a reservoir, sewage lagoon and landfill site.

Levinia Brown, the minister of Community and Government Services, was to extend the state of emergency though mid-July this past Wednesday, said Ron Mongeau, the hamlet's senior administrative officer.

Brown also extended permission for the hamlet to continue dumping raw sewage into the Duval River until June 24, because with the bridges out, hamlet honey trucks have no way to haul waste to the sewage treatment plant.

Despite that, daily life for most Pangnritung residents is returning to normal, Mongeau said.

"In terms of core municipal services the situation is very stable," he said. "Everyone is getting water, [sewage] pump-out, garbage pick-up. We have police, medical and fire procedures in place on both sides of the river."

Residents have been limited to 500 litres of fresh water a day. But Mongeau said Community and Government Services is bringing in a giant hose that will allow water trucks to hook up to the water supply.

A second hose, connected to giant bladders, would hook up to the sewage treatment plant and allow honey trucks to pump out their cargo and end the dumping of raw sewage into the river.

What's worrying hamlet officials now are cracks in the ground that have begun to form 60 metres away from the Duvall River valley and less than 100 metres away from some government staff housing units, Mongeau said. There are also sections of the river that disappear entirely underground.

"You'll see the river coming down and then it just drops subsurface," he said.

The hamlet is waiting for geotechnical experts to arrive to study the bridge piles and the ground around them.

The closing of the hamlet's two bridges have cut off one end of town from the other.

Other bridges are closed to vehicles, and the new one is open only to pedestrians in an emergency. The hamlet has been shuttling residents back and forth by boat.

Mongeau said hamlet officials are planning to build a temporary crossing downstream from the new bridge.

The old bridge is damaged beyond repair and is "toast," Mongeau said.