Nunavut fuel spill under control, says official

Thousands of litres of jet fuelleaked onto the tundra at Nunavut's Brevoort Island radar site before the spill was discovered last week, a Defence Department spokesmansays.

An estimated 150,000 litres of Jet-A1 fuel spilled before the leak was found Jan. 12 by a contractor doing routine maintenance, Malcolm Beaton told CBC News Tuesday.

"We haven't determined the cause of the leak. At this time our main concern is to contain it, determine where it is exactly, and start collecting all the snow and fuel that can be collected back into drums," he said.

Although the spill has been contained and a cleanup crew is at work, it remainsa serious concern, Beaton said.

Located off Baffin Island's eastern shore, about 200 kilometres east of Iqaluit, Brevoort Island is an unmanned radar site that is part of Canada's North Warning System.

Theradar site is one of 47 sites in the North maintained by the Nasittuq Corporation.