Sewage lagoon in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, still not operational after 8 years

The new Cape Dorset sewage lagoon, built in 2007, is leaking and still not operational despite nearly $6 million in construction, repairs and other costs over the last eight years.

Until it's fixed, the Nunavut community is forced to use the old three-tier lagoon, which, according to recent inspection reports, "is operating at above its intended capacity and is at risk annually of a catastrophic failure."

The reports, from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, state that all three cells of the old lagoon are spilling off into the next with little to no treatment of the wastewater.

"People in the community are anxious to get the new lagoon commissioned," said Ed Devereaux, the hamlet's senior administrative officer.

"The Department of Community and Government Services tells us they're working on repairing whatever is required... but it's just very general responses."

In a 2008 letter to the minister of what was then known as Indian Affairs, the Nunavut Water Board said the new sewage lagoon had been poorly designed, was built in an unfavourable location and posed a serious risk.

"The new sewage lagoon appears to have been built without the benefit of environmental assessment or regulatory direction," wrote Thomas Kabloona, chairman of the Nunavut Water Board.

"The evidence supports that the new sewage lagoon has been built in a location with unfavourable geological characteristics; the integrity of the design is seriously questioned by technical reviewers; and the facility has not been constructed in accordance with construction drawings," he wrote.

According to a 2006 report, the new lagoon was designed by Toronto-based Dillon Consulting Group.

Mark Hunter, a spokesperson for Dillon Consulting, confirmed that the firm worked on the project. "At this point we have nothing further to say," he said in an email.

The old, existing lagoon has been a concern since at least 2004, when untreated sewage effluent was found leaking into Telik Inlet.

Over the years, inspectors have also found sewage effluent leaching through an emergency lagoon and pooling on the roadside.

"The old lagoon has issues because of run-offs in the spring, and it sometimes creates repair and environmental issues for the hamlet," said Devereaux.

'No easy solution'

In an email response, a spokesperson for CGS said the planned completion date for the new lagoon is still unknown, but that the leaking lagoon did not pose any environmental concerns.

"The concerns with the new lagoon are not simple in nature and there is no easy solution. CGS is focusing their efforts on a long-term solution rather than patchwork repairs."

The spokesperson said officials in charge of the project declined a request for an interview.

"No one worked here [8 years ago], so we can't really answer those questions," she said.

CGS would not give further details on what the "long-term solution" consists of, and could not confirm when the old, existing three-tier lagoon was built.

In May 2014, the Government of Nunavut submitted a maintenance manual that indicated it was built in 1900, but according to an inspector from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, that's not accurate.