Something went awry on work done in 2014 to replace the concrete area where aircraft park and unload and load passengers at the Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport.

In a joint venture between the federal and territorial governments, more than 200 large concrete panels were replaced in this area of the airport, called the apron.

According to NDP MLA Lois Moorcroft, 13 of those panels have already been replaced since the work was completed in 2014.

“There were some deficiencies,” Highways and Public Works Minister Scott Kent told the legislature last week.

Moorcroft quizzed Kent for answers as to how much the do-overs will cost, and who will be required to pay up.

“The company that installed them will be responsible for replacing those,” Kent said.

Department officials are working with the contractor to find a solution for the situation, he added.

The cost for the replacement work is unknown at this point, the minister said.

But Kent’s answer had further implications, Moorcroft argued Monday in the legislature, when she raised the issue again.

“When the minister says the government is negotiating with the contractor, it implies that the government is considering bearing some of the needed repair costs,” she said.

Kent quickly dismissed that interpretation, calling it another example of Opposition members being “ahead of themselves” when it comes to making insinuations about what’s happening.

Transport Canada funded a portion of the project – which was initially between $3 million and $4 million, Kent said.

Since completion, Transport Canada had a report done on the work and what had gone wrong.

Because he has not reviewed the report, Kent said, he is not in a position where he could commit to tabling it in the house.

In addition to having panels needing replacement, Moorcroft noted, monitoring wells were accidentally paved over during apron repairs.

The wells, drilled into the ground beneath the airport, are used to check and mitigate underground hydrocarbon pollution in the airfield.

New wells had to be drilled because of the paving mix-up, she said.

It’s unclear as to what the deficiencies were with the concrete panels.

The name of the local contractor is also unknown.

Officials with the Department of Highways and Public Works failed to respond to the Star’s inquiries before this afternoon’s press deadline.