State of Emergency Declared in Iqaluit Due to Tainted Water Supply
Two days after discovering petroleum hydrocarbons in Iqaluit’s
water supply, the Government of Nunavut declared a state of emergency in the city. (See also Water Treatment;
Water Pollution.) The first of at least five shipments of potable water arrived in Iaqluit by airplane. The water was distributed
in rations of 16 litres per household. Officials believed the contamination was caused by the effects of melting permafrost on underground
pipes.