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

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 from one of the day tanks used 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.

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

"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.