Efforts to find the source of diesel fuel contaminating a section of the downtown area are continuing to come up empty.

Brian Levia, manager of monitoring and inspections for the Department of Environment, said last Thursday diesel fuel is still leaking into the sump at the Optometrists Building at the corner of Second Avenue and Lambert Street.

An exploration program around the building in early June using a specialized small bore drill failed to advance the search for the sources, Levia said.

He also noted the search through fuel records of neighbouring buildings has been fruitless so far.

'Every road that we go down, we are not finding any information that is pointing us to the source,' Levia said.

He is certain, however, that the fuel is not coming from a 2003 spill at the territorial youth probation services building up the street on Lambert, next to the former Movie Gallery store at the corner of Fourth Avenue.

The undetermined amount of fuel spilled from the outside fuel tank is a Great Northern Oil product that is chemically different than the fuel leaking into the sump of the Optometrists Building, according to a laboratory analysis, Levia said.

The department is inviting anyone with any information that might help find the source of the Optometrists Building fuel to call in the TIPS line if they wish to remain anonymous 1-800-661-0525.

A oil sheen on the Yukon River was reported in early April. It was subsequently traced back to the Lambert Street storm drain, and eventually the sump at the Optometrists Building. The building's underground tanks were eventually dug up and found to be sound.

When the excavation was done, however, a gush of diesel began filling the hole, to the point that some 800 litres filled the hole in less than two hours before it was filled back in.

An examination of fuel records from neighbouring buildings has not turned up the source of the fuel, which the lab indicates is not more than a year old, Levia explained.

The cost of the drill program to punch 12 holes in the area of the Optometrists Building was $67,800.

Under territorial law, the party responsible for the spill is responsible for the cost of the cleanup.

Meanwhile, the Department of Highways and Public Works is waiting for a quote from EBA Engineering Consultants Ltd. to determine the extent of the contamination caused by the leak at the youth probation services building.

Department spokesman Darren Butt said it was decided last week to put off remediation work once it was learned the problem was more extensive than originally thought, after the parking lot separating the two buildings had been partially excavated.

So far, the government has spent an estimated $30,000 addressing the problem, Butt said.

He said department officials suspect the spill occurred when thieves were stealing heating oil from the tank.

Two holes were discovered in the bottom of the tank, he pointed out.

Butt said the department is not sure how much oil leaked into the ground, though the above-ground, 1,000-litre tank had been filled up just twice during the period in question.