Rankin Inlet Mayor Harry Towtongie released a public statement on Nov. 8 addressing some concerns raised about the snowmobile crossing at the bottom of Apache Pass, near the Char River bridge, since the installation of a saline effluent pipeline by Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM).
Towtongie said when it comes to safety, the hamlet usually tries to act on things as soon as it can.
He said AEM is putting in the saline effluent pipeline from the Meliadine gold mine all the way over to Itivia and, in some areas, the pipe has to hang because of the terrain and the culverts in the area.
“The pipes have to come up off of the ground because there's culverts there to drain the water away in the springtime,” said Towtongie. “So these pipes happened to go on the culvert close to the Ski-Doo crossing in the winter, when we cross coming in from the ocean, just south of First Landing Lake.
“It had to be a bit high in that spot where Ski-Doos were going to have to cross," he added. "It had room for Ski-Doos to cross, but it would be a little bit of a challenge if you had a qamutiik without a hitch and your sled was going all over the place, especially if you were going downhill.
“So, what we ended up planning with AEM was to remove the last section of pipe laid this past summer and to have it stored away to the side until next summer because they're not going to be used this winter anyway.
“Over the next day-and-a-half, those pipes were gone and Ski-Doo crossing signs were put up, It's all been done already and it should be much safer in that area now. Next summer, when construction on the pipeline restarts, the connection will be properly buried and a permanent crossing will be built.”
