The mystery still hangs over the origin of the contamination of drinking water by hydrocarbons in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Until the authorities provide answers, the population is pulling together to face the crisis.
On Friday, two Boeing 767-300s touched down at Iqaluit airport to supply drinking water to the city of 8,000 inhabitants, the capital of Nunavut. The municipality should receive 80,000 liters of drinking water which will be distributed to the population, who do not yet know when they will be able to use tap water again.
The state of emergency was declared Thursday by the authorities. Since Tuesday, a ban on drinking water has been in effect after hydrocarbon contamination was found.
The City of Iqaluit said Friday evening that tests indeed show a high concentration of fuel in a tank that supplies drinking water to the municipality. Authorities said the fuel could be diesel or kerosene.
“It’s a bit worrying,” says François Fortin, who has lived in Iqaluit for nine years now. “First, we still don’t know what the problem is. Then we don’t know how long it will take before we can use tap water again. ”
The authorities warned the population that, in this case, they could not boil tap water and then consume it, as is sometimes the case when the City announces a boil water advisory. But not all follow the instructions, believes Mr. Fortin. “It doesn’t smell of gas or oil everywhere, at home, it doesn’t smell of anything. I don’t take risks, but some do. ”
PHOTO CASEY LESSARD, REUTERS
Residents queuing for bottled water in Iqaluit on Friday
All government services are closed except essential services. Schools and daycares are closed until further notice, a situation that will not last very long, said Iqaluit Deputy Mayor Janet Brewster, joined by Press Friday.
Melting permafrost
While the exact cause of the contamination is not yet known, certain hypotheses have started to circulate. In an interview in several media, the mayor of Iqaluit, Kenny Bell, raised the issue of climate change and its impact on municipal infrastructure.
A theory to which Janet Brewster adheres. “With warming, the permafrost thaws, which has all kinds of consequences for our facilities. ”
PHOTO CASEY LESSARD, REUTERS
Some residents have been filling their canisters directly into the Sylvia Grinnell River since tap water has been banned in Iqaluit.
On Thursday, the City signaled that it was investigating a possible infiltration of an underground reservoir by hydrocarbons. The City has now isolated and bypassed the tank, Iqaluit manager Amy Elgersma said on Friday and it will be examined when it is empty to try to determine how it has been contaminated with fuel.
“When permafrost thaws, all infrastructure is affected. Hoses can crack, for example, ”explains Daniel Fortier, professor of geography at the University of Montreal and author of a study on the hydrology of rivers near Iqaluit. To this must be added the possibility that land may be contaminated with hydrocarbons. “For a long time, especially in the North, standards and practices were not what they are today. [pour les hydrocarbures]. So it is possible that there is some in the ground. ”
Aging infrastructure, damaged by melting permafrost, could very well have allowed hydrocarbons to pass into the water distribution network, believes Professor Daniel Fortier.
“We didn’t know until the early 1990s. We believed that the permafrost in this region was very stable,” he says. However, the speed and extent of warming across the northern hemisphere are now known. These elements will be taken into account for new infrastructure projects.
“A lot of mutual aid”
While waiting to obtain answers to several questions, the population is sticking together. “There is a lot of mutual aid in the city to lend a hand to those who do not have the means of transport to collect water,” says François Fortin. We also see it on Facebook. Some people report that they have no means of transport, others offer their services. ”
“It’s not really difficult to get water, although sometimes you have to wait, but for those who cannot get it, it becomes a problem,” confirms Janet Brewster. She herself helps families get the water they need every day.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY JANET BREWSTER
Janet Brewster, Deputy Mayor of Iqaluit
This new crisis could, however, have positive repercussions, believes Mr.me Brewster, who ran for a position in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. “The state of emergency could help shed light on our problems with our infrastructures for supplying drinking water. They are old, they need to be replaced. ”
The City has applied for $ 133 million in financial assistance from Ottawa to modernize its network, which is increasingly insufficient to meet demand in the face of a growing population. “It is developing a lot,” says François Fortin. In nine years, I’ve seen a lot of new projects here: a new arena, a new hotel, a new airport. ”
“There is not enough water for the entire population, we need new infrastructure. And as long as they are not modernized, we risk having again problems like this history of contamination ”, concludes Janet Brewster.
In numbers
– 9,3 °C
Average temperature in Iqaluit
– 45,6 °C
Coldest temperature on record in the capital of Nunavut
7
Number of heat records recorded over the past 15 years in Iqaluit
Source: Environment Canada
With The Canadian Press