Environment Canada charges Iqaluit after sewage spills

DENISE RIDEOUT

The City of Iqaluit is facing charges after thousands of litres of sewage spilled into the bay this spring.

Environment Canada alleges that more than 600,000 litres of sewage poured into Koojeesse Inlet during five separate spills between April and July 2001.

The charges, filed on Dec. 10, allege the City of Iqaluit was in violation of the Fisheries Act for releasing harmful substances into fish-bearing waters.

Hal Sommerstad, the head of enforcement for Environment Canada in the Northern Region, said the first of the five spills occurred in April. Environment Canada began investigating the incidents on July 12, but Sommerstad wouldn’t reveal details of the probe.

City officials and their lawyers are scheduled to appear in the Nunavut Territorial Court on Feb. 4 to enter pleas to 14 charges under the Fisheries Act.

If found guilty, the City will face fines of up to $300,000. Subsequent offences would result in an additional $300,000 fine, or even jail time if someone is found to have been negligent.

In a Dec. 10 press release, the City said “As this matter is before the court, there will be no further comment from council or staff of the municipal corporation at this time.”

The matter came to light in July when Environment Canada launched an investigation into spills that occurred at two of Iqaluit’s sewage lift stations.

At the time of the investigation, Matthew Hough, the city’s public works director, told Nunatsiaq News that pumps at the lift stations failed, causing the sewage overflow to run into the bay. The pumps are located on the edge of Koojeesse Inlet.

City employees responded immediately to fix the pumps and stem the flow of waste into the ocean, Hough said. Following that, the City filed a spill report with the Nunavut spill line.

Iqaluit residents were not told about the spills at the time. Details only surfaced after Environment Canada revealed it was investigating reports of sewage spills.