Federal inspectors to test Baker Lake's drinking water

Federal water inspectors are going to Baker Lake to test the hamlet's drinking water after at least one resident said locals are getting sick from the water.

Inspectors from the federal Indian and Northern Affairs Department normally visit the hamlet each summer, as the department oversees enforcement of water licences in the territory.

But earlier this week, Baker Lake resident Joan Scottie said people in the area have experienced diarrhea and vomiting from the drinking water, which comes from the lake of the same name.

In an interview with CBC News Monday, Scottie said the community's sewage lagoon and garbage dump are located above Baker Lake. She said contaminated water from the waste facilities was running into the lake during the spring thaw.

Those concerns were news to Michael Nadler, the federal department's Nunavut regional director, who said he hadn't previously heard of public concerns about Baker Lake's drinking water supply.

"In fact, the media coverage we saw was the only information we'd heard from the public in Baker Lake," Nadler said.

"We've treated it like a public complaint, so we'll be sending inspectors there to just inspect the community and take water samples."

Both Nadler and hamlet officials stress that annual water samples show that Baker Lake's drinking water meets national drinking water quality standards.

But Nadler said inspectors have noted that Baker Lake's sewage lagoon has some problems that could lead to it overflowing during the spring. When it does, that overflow ends up in the lake.

"We observed some problems with the sewage lagoon that could've led to decanting during runoff," he said. "Our inspectors' reports that we shared with the hamlet identified that concern."

Mayor David Akswanee said the hamlet has held talks with the territory's Community and Government Services Department, and there is a plan this summer to build more dikes in an effort to improve the sewage lagoon's containment.

"Right now there's only one dike that's been built so many years [ago], and they're planning to put maybe three more dikes to slow it down," he said.

Inspectors will take water samples from Baker Lake during the spring, when runoff is at its greatest. Nadler said he expects the results from the samples to arrive within a few weeks.