Yukon Energy is suing the ground experts it hired to examine soil and permafrost conditions for the Mayo-Dawson City transmission line.

Management of the project has been described as a boondoggle that sent the cost soaring 30 per cent or more over the original $27.2-million estimate.

The Crown corporation was harshly criticized last year in an independent audit by the Auditor General of Canada for mismanaging the project from the very beginning.

Documents were filed with the Yukon Supreme Court last week by Yukon Energy. It is asking the court to find that the two ground experts are financially liable for any costs the corporation incurs settling outstanding disputes related to ground conditions.

The last known cost estimate for the project was $36.2 million, or $10 million over-budget and counting.

Chant Construction was the national construction company hired to build the transmission line. The company maintains that information provided by Yukon Energy during the bid process was incorrect, including information on ground conditions.

Very early on in the project, problems arose, and at one point, Chant pulled its crews off.

Work resumed only after it was agreed Chant and Yukon Energy would settle their differences after the transmission line was completed.

Those discussions are ongoing.

Ian Taggart, president of Chant's western region, said this morning from Richmond, B.C. that Chant and Yukon Energy are trying to establish a process to settle their issues in-house and avoid external legal action.

Chant does not want to turn this into something where the lawyers win and everybody else loses, Taggart said.

He said he was not aware Yukon Energy was suing the experts it hired to examine the ground conditions, but suggested if the Crown corporation knows it can't win that fight with Chant, it may be looking to 'get its pound of flesh somewhere.'

But Yukon Energy president David Morrison said this morning the suit against the two ground experts has nothing to do with whether the corporation believes Chant is right or wrong.

It's a matter of covering all the bases in a complex legal situation, Morrison explained.

He said in some cases, there are restrictions on the amount of time a party has to sue another party in a contract dispute.

Given the length of time this matter has gone on, Yukon Energy has gone to its subcontractors involved in the project to ask for an extension to that time limitation. They've all been assured Yukon Energy is still going to bat against Chant, he said.

In some cases, subcontractors have agreed to the extension, while in other cases they haven't.

When it does not get an extension in the time it has to sue one of its subcontractors, Yukon Energy has to file legal action to keep the door open if necessary, he explained.

Morrison said in some cases, subcontractors are not able to provide an extension because of restrictions in their own professional insurance coverage.

He said he doesn't know what the case was with the two ground experts hired.

'This is not a matter of whether we believe Chant is right or wrong, this is a case of covering our bases,' said Morrison, who was hired at the height of the standoff during construction to get the transmission line back on track.

The Supreme Court document filed June 6 says the two experts hired, Christopher R. Burns of Ottawa, and Charlotte Mouget of Calgary, did not fulfill the terms of their contract.

As experts, they knew, or should have known, results of their research into ground conditions along the route would be included in the request for proposals that Yukon Energy would be putting out in its search for a company to install the line.

Yukon Energy is asking the court to find Burn and Mouget responsible for whatever Chant proves in its claim that it was given incorrect information on ground conditions.

According to Yukon Energy's suit, Chant is claiming that incorrect information on soil conditions and permafrost increased the scope and the cost of the project dramatically.

Morrison said he is not sure how much the publicly-owned corporation has spent fighting the dispute with Chant, and couldn't know how much longer it will go on.

The president, however, has maintained in the past that despite the problems with the project, Yukon Energy was right to proceed with the transmission line. The project is an overall benefit, and is already paying itself off quicker than expected, he has pointed out.

The line, Morrison maintains, has replaced expensive diesel generation in Dawson City with surplus hydro power at the Mayo dam.