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.
The N.W.T.'s environment minister says he only learned about a spill of nearly six million litres of water from a Suncor oilsands sediment pond into the Athabasca River when he received a call from the Globe and Mail. It's the second time the Alberta government has failed to notify the territory of a spill that could impact northern waters. It comes just weeks after news broke that Imperial Oil's Kearl mine had been leaking contaminated water for months.
Thousands of farmers protested in Madrid on Wednesday over Spain's plan to reduce the amount of water taken from the Tagus river to irrigate agricultural land in the country's southeast. Spain experienced its hottest year on record in 2022. The heat, accompanied by a long drought throughout most of the year, caused reservoirs to fall to critical levels. Environment Minister Teresa Ribera said on Tuesday the curbs were necessary to prepare the country for the effects of climate change.
The proposed Grassy Mountain coal project in southwestern Alberta has been rejected by the federal government nearly two months after a review panel denied a provincial application for the project. On Friday, federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said he had rejected the project in light of the review panel's report and after a review of additional available information. "The Government of Canada must make decisions based on the best available scientific evidence while balancing economic and environmental considerations," Wilkinson said in a release.
Alberta is proposing two new plans to monitor water quality on the North Saskatchewan, Battle and Upper Athabasca rivers. Environment Minister Jason Nixon said Tuesday at a press conference in Edmonton the province will establish clear objectives to monitor and maintain water quality after public consultations. "This level of oversight helps us better understand the cumulative effects of various activities on the landscape which is essential to making informed decisions in the future about land and water management and resource development," Nixon said.
Alberta’s environment minister is trying to reassure rural municipalities in the province’s south that their water supply isn’t threatened by industrial development such as coal mines. Many municipalities have expressed concern about what effects the government’s plan to expand the coal industry would have on water supplies. Environment Minister Jason Nixon says despite changes to water allocation from rivers, environmental rules remain the same.
Ontario is proposing to extend a moratorium on water bottling permits for nine months to give the government more time to consider the science behind it. Over the past year, the government reviewed the state of water resources in key areas of the province and the effect that taking water out of the ground has on those resources, a spokesman for Environment Minister Jeff Yurek said.
A decision on how to proceed with water bottling permits is expected by early to mid-December, with a review nearly complete, Ontario's Environment Minister Jeff Yurek said Thursday. A moratorium on new and expanded permits to take water for bottling, which was put in place by the former Liberal government in 2017, and was extended last year by the Progressive Conservatives, is set to expire on Jan. 1. Yurek said his decision will be based in science, though if the government can't find a "conclusive way to go forward" he would extend the moratorium again.
An Indigenous-led group plans to offer to buy a majority stake in the Trans Mountain oil pipeline from the Canadian government this week or next, a deal that could help Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mitigate election-year criticism from environmentalists. The group, called Project Reconciliation, aims to submit the $6.9 billion offer as early as Friday, managing director Stephen Mason told Reuters, and start negotiations with Ottawa two weeks later. Project Reconciliation said the investment will alleviate First Nations poverty, a watershed for Indigenous people who have historically watched Canada’s resources enrich others.
The future of a Nova Scotia pulp mill remained uncertain Friday as the province asked for more work on its contentious proposal to pipe 85 million litres of its treated wastewater into the Northumberland Strait. The Northern Pulp paper mill has become a flashpoint, with its plan to pump waste into rich fishing grounds pitting forest industry workers against fishermen, environmentalists and even the P.E.I. government — which opposes the plan due to concerns over the impact on lobster harvesting.
A proposed open-pit mine near a pristine water source in northern Quebec will get a full public review, Quebec's environment minister announced last week. But around 200 people still protested this weekend in Amos, 600 kilometres north of Montreal, saying they intend to make sure the provincial government keeps its promise.
Nova Scotians now have access to the details of Northern Pulp's controversial plan to build a new effluent treatment plant and discharge pipeline that will empty into the Northumberland Strait. The plan put forward to the Environment Department is to build a "biological activated sludge" treatment facility purchased from a Paris-based multinational corporation called Veolia Water Technologies.
A proposed open-pit lithium mine in northwestern Quebec has triggered community tension and calls for the provincial government to order an independent environmental review with public hearings. An Australian firm, Sayona Mining Ltd., is the proponent that is proposing to build the Authier lithium mine project. Some residents and environmentalists who live nearby say they are worried most about whether the proposed mine, planned at the foot of the Saint-Mathieu-Berry esker, a geological formation of glacial rocks in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, would jeopardize their local water supply.
