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Written by THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
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PANGNIRTUNG, Nunavut - A remote Arctic community fears an unprecedented flash flood may be washing away the ground it sits on from underneath.
Engineers are trying to get into Pangnirtung, Nunavut, where the meltwater-swollen Duvall River is raising fears of subterranean erosion that could collapse under the town's homes and buildings.
"We're seeing enormous cracks that are developing in the land and sinkholes that are well away from the river," said town administrator Ron Mongeau.
One crack north of the river is about 20 metres long, a metre wide and at least a metre deep, Mongeau said. Sinkholes are also developing in the area, which is roughly halfway between the riverbank and about 30 housing units.
"We're seeing these cracks moving in the direction of the housing," he said. "The story seems to be getting a little bit worse right now."
Similar problems are developing on the south side of the river.
"We're not engineers, but it appears there may have been some subsidence, some subsurface disruption to the bed of that whole river valley," said Mongeau.
The territorial government is trying sending a crew of geotechnical experts to the town of about 1,600 on the southern coast of Baffin Island. But the only way into town is by air and the weather is too bad to fly.
Mongeau said some suspect the meltwater-caused erosion is related to climate change. Recent studies have suggested that shrinking sea ice cover also hastens the softening of permafrost.
Heavy rain and unusual 13 C temperatures produced rapid snow melt in the surrounding mountains and hills and led to a flood on June 7 and 8.
So much water blasted down the Duvall that it carved a 10-metre channel through the permafrost right down to bedrock, damaging both bridges enough that the town was cut off from its water reservoir and sewage lagoon.
A truck is now pumping water through a hose across the bridge to another truck, which then ferries the water to residents.
But there's no such solution for sewage, which is being dumped directly into the river about 50 metres from where it flows into the Pangnirtung Fiord, the site of a productive
local fishery for both char and beluga whales.
Mongeau downplayed environmental concerns, saying by the time the sewage hits the fiord it is well diluted.
About 200 members of the community of about 1,600 are cut off from Pangnirtung's health centre and food stores.
Local hunters are ferrying people across the river by paddling freighter canoes into the ice-free section of the fiord - although that can only be done twice a day when tides are favourable.
Meanwhile, Mongeau says municipal services in the community are stable, with water, sewage and garbage services available to all. All homes are accessible to police and fire crews as well.
A temporary military bridge that would span the Duvall has been located and a Coast Guard vessel is available to move it. But, like all Nunavut communities, Pangnirtung doesn't have a harbour or crane capable of moving it from the ship onto shore.
-By Bob Weber in Edmonton
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 October 2008 )
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