Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
A local First Nation says it's "disappointed" Teck Coal is seeking to reduce the $16 million in fines it was assessed by the B.C. Ministry of Environment in January for polluting waterways in B.C.'s East Kootenay. In January, the province imposed three administrative penalties on Teck Coal Limited, a subsidiary of Teck Resources, citing the company's failure to have water treatment facilities ready by a required date.
When Chief Francis Laceese was seven years old he went fishing with his father at one of the traditional Tsilhqot’in fishing sites along the Fraser River and, during a break, scooped up a bucket of water to make tea over the fire. Today, no one would feel safe making tea from river water because of effluent flowing directly into the river from the Gibraltar mine, Laceese, 61, told The Narwhal. As Tl’esqox chief, Laceese is among the Tsilhqot’in leaders fighting against a provincial permit that grants the Taseko-owned Gibraltar mine permission to increase by 50 per cent the amount of untreated tailings pond water being piped into the river from the mine site 60 kilometres north of Williams Lake. The Gibraltar mine was first built in 1972 and is Canada’s second-largest open-pit copper mine.
