Down the Rabbitskin hole: Casing, drilling tool lost underground at N.W.T. fibre line site

The crew installing one of the last sections of the N.W.T.'s Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Link is still encountering trouble at Rabbitskin River, near Fort Good Hope.

On Jan. 30, a ground-penetrating drilling hammer broke off about 92 metres underground (though not under the river).

Despite a recovery effort, both the hammer and about 50 metres of 18-inch steel casing had to be abandoned down the hole, forcing the crew to start a new path for the cable.

"It's not ideal," says Sean Craig, who oversees the troubled fibre line project for the N.W.T.'s Department of Finance.

"Obviously we wanted to retrieve the tool. But from an environmental perspective, I believe there isn't any concerns. I haven't heard any to date."

River site 'athorn in everyone's side'

Craig says the department met with both leaders in Fort Good Hope, which owns the land, and community members after the incident.

The setback is not expected to delay the fibre line schedule, with the department expecting to cut the ribbon in June.

• Three rivers still vex Mackenzie Valley fibre line installers

The Rabbitskin, along with Loone and Tieda rivers, are the last three sites where the remaining 120 kilometres of fibre line need to be installed.

Rabbitskin River, in particular, was flagged as problem area by the contractor, Ledcor, early on.

Asked if the crew is running into permafrost, Craig said, "It's a little bit of everything. It varies as it goes down and there's different layers and you have to keep changing tools and different pressures and thrusts. It's a slow process.

"The Rabbitskin has been a thorn in everyone's side."

• MORE NORTHNEWS:Proposed cutbacks to site inspections go against devolution promise, says N.W.T. MLA
• MORE NORTH NEWS:Nunavut's Hope Bay mine pours its first gold bar