Crystal 2 transmitter site were left by a group of
drunks whose raucous party kept nearby
campersawakeall night on July 8-9.
PHOTO BY SEAN McKIBBON
July 14, 2000
JIM BELL
Nunatsiaq News
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IQALUIT — An angry group of Iqaluit campers are demanding that either police or the Town of Iqaluit’s bylaw department lay charges against a group of rowdy drunks who defaced a large piece of pristine land near Iqaluit’s Crystal 2 transmitter site.
Witnesses say the drunks kept the campers up all night with excessive screaming, shouting and other "out-of-control" actions.
Those actions included a botched attempt to rescue a small blue and grey pickup truck that had becomehopelessly mired in a low, marshy area after one of the party-goers had driven it there.
At around 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning, one of the party-goers comandeered a 215 JCB backhoe vehicle equipped with a front bucket, and drove the large vehicle towards the pickup truck.
"Needless to say, the backhoe also got stuck," one camper said in a letter to Nunatsiaq News.
"Instead of stopping there and also stopping the destruction of this beautiful, green, low-lying area, the operators of both pickup and backhoe went on and on, revving their engines and plowing deeper and deeper. They continued driving back and forth through the length and then across the width of the area, causing its complete destruction.
"While this was going on, other party participants cheered them on," the camper said in his letter.
The party started on the evening of Saturday, July 8, and continued until at least 9:00 a.m. on July 9.
One observer told Nunatsiaq News that the inebriated revellers appeared to be employees of South Baffin Holdings, Nunastar, and the municipality of Iqaluit.
"They all appeared to be under the influence of either alcohol or illegal drugs, but definitely not sober," the camper went on to say in his letter. "I cannot imagine a sober person doing such a terrible thing to our beautiful land."
By Sunday evening, the backhoe and pickup truck had been removed from the area.
One observer said he saw the backhoe vehicle parked that evening at a private business in the West 40, just before the turn-off to Sylvia Grinnell Park.
Another observer took down the licence plate number of the pickup truck.
About five or six families, with children, were camping in the Crystal 2 area last weekend. It’s part of large area near the Sylvia Grinnell River that Iqalungmiut have used for summer fishing and camping for many generations.