The hamlet of Sanikiluaq has suffered a major fuel spill, resulting in up to 1,000 residents initially seeking shelter on the west side of the island.

A press release from the Government of Nunavut (GN), issued Monday evening, states "at approximately 1 p.m., on July 22, 2024, PPD [Petroleum Products Division] was alerted to a gasoline fuel leak with an estimated 5,000 litres of fuel spilled due to tank overfill. PPD's local representatives promptly closed the tank valve to prevent further overfilling."

The leak occurred within a bulk storage facility in the community, according to the territorial government.

The GN asks residents and to stay away from the affected area around the tank farm containment site to allow for effective cleanup as well as to reduce potential ignition sources.

Local response teams and emergency units, including the RCMP and fire department, are actively managing the contamination site.

However, no form of evacuation notice has been issued in Sanikiluaq, the GN stated.

"The current risk to the community is minimal," the news release continues. "The spill occurred within the containment area of the facility, and no fuel has been released outside of this controlled environment. Photoionization detector readings taken at 3 p.m. this afternoon could not detect any fumes beyond the containment area, indicating low risk to nearby residents."

The community's summer games are also taking place on the island, which has youths from the northern Quebec region of Nunavik staying as guests in Sanikiluaq, a remote community on the Belcher Islands in south Hudson's Bay.

Bruno B. Dufour, who is involved in building the new hamlet office, told Radio-Canada that people were told to evacuate to the school around 12:30 p.m. local time.

"At the school, we were told to go to the airport, and then 30 minutes later we were told to go further on the land," he said in French to CBC. 

According to Dufour, the scene remains calm and there are bottles of water being handed out. 

"There's no panic," he said. "Everybody is helping each other."