I didn't get an update yesterday. Wrote something up, but the internet service here is a bit unreliable.
Training over past couple of days has proved again that I learn just as much from the students. The issues that the communities deal with in Nunavut are very difficult and complex. We've heard stories about dealing with polar bears at their landfills that come to feed on left over whale carcases. we learned how most of the communities don't have piped water systems. they deliver treated water to every house and business by truck every day. If there is a storm and the water truck doesn't run, no one has water after 3 days. waste water is also pumped out and truck to the local lagoons. One community had a fire in their shop and apparently one individual risks his life to get the water trucks out of the shop - if he didn't, the community wouldn't have water delivery. A disaster in this part of the world because you just can't get a new truck that easy. it either has to be shipped in by sea lift, and you can only do that in summer. Otherwise you have to fly it in on emergency via Herc airplanes and the cost is prohibitive.
The landfills have numerous issues. Most do no apply cover on their landfills because they don't have anything to use for cover. Most are just in rock. Most practice open burning. They all have issues with disposing of oils, solvents and other barrels of unknowns. some of this material has been stored for years since there is no way of transporting them out exept by barge and money is scarce. one municipality has talked about their metal pile they've been trying to deal with but aren't getting financial support. I didn't fully appreciate the issue until today when we google earth'd his site and he could show us the size the metal pile. it is absolutely huge. We also saw an amazingly large metal pile at the Iqaluit landfill today. Everything that comes up here, stays here and after many years these pile grow to unbelievable sizes. Remember, some of this stuff was brought up here as far back as 1940 when the Canadian and America military was active in the north.
There's also lots of problems with contaminated sites. many of the sites are related to military facilities and activities, some because of the power systems. Every municipality relies on local power plants that run on diesel fuel. Remember all the diesel and gasoline has to be shipped by sea lift in the summer.
Recent CBC North News issued a report on the problems and that has brought these issues to the forefront. The communities do have lots of innovative ideas. I'm hoping that after 5 days in this training program that we can help the municipalities start to form ideas, plans, and some goals that they can work towards to solves some of there waste management issues.
Aside from waste, other things I'm learning.
- when the wind blows - it is nasty. we walked to the training room each morning. this morning the wind was howling and it wasn't pleasant
- life is hard in the north by our view, but the people we met love this country - you can see it in their faces and the way they talk about the north
- to hunt a 40 foot whale, you go out in 15 foot boat, harpoon the whale, and hang on
- the north is full of fascinating wild life. we all know about polar bears, but there are seals, walruses, killer whales, narwhals, belugas, muskox (I had muskox stew for dinner today)
- Arctic Char is to die for
- you will hear 3 lanuages in Nunavut - English, French, and Inuktitut
- Some of the best poutine you can get is right here in Iqaluit
- The scenery in the North is spectacular