4,000-litre fuel spill in Grise Fiord 'under control' but cleanup not complete, says energy corp. - Action News
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4,000-litre fuel spill in Grise Fiord 'under control' but cleanup not complete, says energy corp.

The president and CEO of the Qulliq Energy Corporation says most of the work cleaning up a diesel fuel spill in Grise Fiord, Nunavut, is finished but the final remediation work wont happen until this summer.

Diesel spilled out on March 15 due to a faulty valve and loose plug

The recovered diesel is now in barrels, they'll be taken out of the community later this year once the sea lift season begins. (Submitted by Marty Kuluguqtuq)

Most of the work cleaning up a diesel fuel spill in Grise Fiord, Nunavut, is finished but the final remediation work won't happen until this summer, according to an official with the Qulliq Energy Corporation.

About 4,000 litres of diesel spilled out overnight on March 15. It was fromone of theday tanksused to hold the fuel for the community's power generators, explained Bruno Pereira, the president and CEO of Qulliq Energy Corporation.

"This wasn't a good thing. We never like to see fuel spills," he said. "We've collected all the fuel and will remediate."

A combination of a faulty automated valve and a loose plug caused the spill, Pereira explained.

A team from the corporation investigated what went wrong and is making sure it doesn't happen again, he said.

Fuel stored in one of the day tanks in Grise Fiord spilled earlier in March. Officials with Qulliq Energy Corporation say most of the cleanup work is finished, but the rest will be finalized later this year. (Submitted by Marty Kuluguqtuq)

Cleanup crews were in the community shortly after the spill,and the corporation's vice-president visited the community to hear about residents' concerns,saidPereira.

"We've done most of the work to clean up the spill," Pereira said.

"The remaining work will happen once we get into the sealift season and we're able to take away the solvent pads and a number of oil drums filled with oil we did collect."

Pereira said the situation is "under control now" and said the corporation will follow up with the hamlet if there are any more issues to address.

With files from Eva Michael