Yukon government inspectors have ordered a contractor to stop burning waste at the demolition site of an old Marwell warehouse off Quartz Road yesterday after it was learned material being incinerated violated the Environment Act.

"They didn't have a permit so we shut them down," Bryan Levia, an inspections officer with the Department of Environment, told the Star.

According to Levia, untreated wood is the only material the contractors were authorized to burn.

"We had information regarding the burn going on ... we went, and in addition to wood there were other wastes being burned; metal conduits, piping, some plastics and some insulation," said Levia.

Levia said a permit is required to dispose of those materials in such a manner, but that the burning has stopped while demolition is allowed to proceed.

"Everybody (on site) was co-operative and fine," said Levia. "The only thing that I asked be stopped was the incineration, which they did."

Doris Wurfbaum,a spokeswoman for the Department of Highways and Public Works, which is managing the project, told the Star both the contractor and the department have complied with the order.

"Now it's being investigated, and pending that investigation, we'll decide if the department needs to go through (an environmental assessment) to obtain an emissions permit," Wurfbaum said.

"The permit that they have includes non-treated materials, which this was supposed to be. (The contractors) removed asbestos, wiring and piping and this was just supposed to be about a wood burn."

Arctic Environmental, a Yellowknife-based demolition firm experienced in taking down contaminated buildings, is doing the job for Public Works.

"The contractor was doing due dilligence and those (non-wood items) got in there inadvertantly," Wurfbaum said.

Those items included wiring, "and there was a piece of plastic or something," she said.

The warehouse, more than 50 years old and constructed of high-quality timber, was part of the old Canol oil refinery site of the 1940s.

Attempts to contact Arctic Environmental for comment were unsuccesful as of press time today.