Mr. Christensen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The community has outgrown the initial infrastructure that was built which included a water supply pumphouse and supply main to the community of Rankin Inlet. It now requires additional capacity and a new supply main from Lake Nipisar, which is its main source of water to its central tempering and distribution pumphouse. It's coincidental that these projects are happening in this particular year, but the need is pressing.

Regarding sewage disposal, the community presently discharges its sewage into the bay right in front of the community and this has been causing some environmental problems. There have been planning studies ongoing to attempt to deal with it. The solution involves redirecting the sewage away from the bay and cleaning up the bay area to provide a more environmentally acceptable option for sewage disposal. Again, attempting to address concerns raised by the NWT Water Board, as well, through a review of the municipal water license.

Thank you. Keewatin, total region, $3 million. Mr. Koe.

Mahsi. The sewage disposal, again, I know there's obviously a huge amount of sewage now because of the population. Up until now and from my visits there, at one time the sewage was being dumped into a cove, Johnson Cove, or some area. Is this money now being used to divert it somewhere else? Are we cleaning the cove out now? What's going on?

Mr. Minister.

Mr. Koe is correct. We've been dumping that sewage in the cove since the mine started in 1953, when they put the old utilidor system in there. That was when the community was sitting at 300 to 325 people. I moved there in 1971 and it was sitting at 450 people. The fact of the matter is, with the strain on the bay, the environmental considerations, the water board's recommendations, et cetera, we are required to take another look at how we're going to move that stuff a different way. It certainly isn't the intent to scoop it out of the bay. The intent, I understand from my discussions with the municipality, is to move forward with a new pipeline system, a master rater station type facility and this would eliminate 20 years of "not-nice-stuff" sitting in the bay. The only it was any good for was the seagulls and the fish. It is an issue that came forward prior to my time and is an expenditure that is being partially forced due to population growth and environmental considerations. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Koe.

With regard to environmental considerations, what work has gone on then to look at the impacts of many years of dumping of effluence into this cove? I'm not sure if it's near the old mine site but, obviously, there's some impact on the old mine site because of contamination. I'm curious as to what work has gone on concerning the environment and the future safety of residents and tourists?

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

I'm going to ask Mr. Christensen to answer that one. I got myself into trouble the last time.

The assistant deputy minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The project doesn't include any clean up of the bay itself. The sludge that has accumulated in Johnson Cove to date will, by our estimation, gradually disperse and restore itself to natural levels. The main, immediate benefit will be to divert the new sewage that's going into that area to a distant, outside of the cove area. There is no plan to do active work in removing the sludge or sewage that might have accumulated in the bay.

Thank you. Nothing out of the ordinary. Keewatin, total region, $3.903 million. Mr. Gargan.

Mr. Chairman, regarding the water system modification in Rankin and the sewage disposal improvement, has the department looked at phasing that in, or are they both considered priorities to go in this fiscal year?

Thank you. Mr. Minister

Mr. Chairman, I would like Mr. Christensen to answer that.

Mr. Assistant Deputy Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Both projects, in our view, have to go in at the same time. The water supply project is mainly predicated on the growing population and the need to provide the supply infrastructure to continue servicing the growing community and position itself to service the expansion area. The sewage project is mainly driven by environmental and public health concerns. We've carried through with these projects through the planning and design stage and we're just now, coincidentally, in the construction phase of both.

Qujannamiik. Keewatin, total region, $3.903 million.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Thank you. Kitikmeot, total region, $1.336 million. Mr. Koe.

Just a question on the item waste heat conversions, in Holman. Can the Minister or his witnesses just give me some indication of what the project is?

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. The hamlet maintenance garage, parking garage, maintenance warehouse and community hall are all located within 100 metres of the NWT Power Corporation power plant. The hamlet's buildings are currently heated with fuel oil and on an annual basis, it costs approximately $100,000. The installation of a waste heat reclamation system, to service these four buildings, would eliminate the heating costs to the hamlet and will realize a complete payback in approximately two years. So, the intent is to reclaim some of the waste heat from the power plant and use it for these facilities with the municipalities.

This system is in place in my home riding in Rankin Inlet with the DPW offices, and I believe it is also working in Cambridge Bay. I think the important thing here is, all the projections are that we can get paid back in two years. I think that's an important component here.