Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

Environment Minister Steven Myers

Nitrate levels climbing in P.E.I. rivers

Nitrate levels climbing in P.E.I. rivers

Provincial monitoring of nitrates in 10 P.E.I. rivers shows levels are rising, according to a recently released report. In three of the streams — the Wilmot, Dunk and Clyde — nitrate levels were over the Canadian Water Quality Guideline for Aquatic Life. The source of the nitrates is mostly agricultural fertilizer, the provincial report says. Environment Minister Steven Myers said recent droughts are the expected culprit. Without timely rain plants can't absorb the fertilizer, and then it washes into streams.

P.E.I. has all the data it needs to lift 'silly' moratorium on irrigation wells, says minister

P.E.I. has all the data it needs to lift 'silly' moratorium on irrigation wells, says minister

P.E.I.'s Environment Minister Steven Myers says the province has all the data it needs to end the province's 19-year moratorium on high capacity irrigation wells, and says the moratorium won't be needed once the province's Water Act comes into effect June 16. That comes after 19 years of successive P.E.I. governments — including that of current Premier Dennis King — saying they needed more research in order to decide what to do with the moratorium.

Free well testing could be part of larger water discussion, says minister

Free well testing could be part of larger water discussion, says minister

A P.E.I. woman who has been lobbying for years for free well water testing may finally get what she has been looking for as part of larger discussions around the new Water Act. Little Sands resident Lynda Kelly has been writing to various provincial officials making the case for one free water test a year. Kelly said it is an important public health issue, and the $40 cost of the test may be enough to put some people off.

P.E.I. environment minister downplays recommendations on Water Act

P.E.I. environment minister downplays recommendations on Water Act

Environment Minister Steven Myers is downplaying the work of a legislative standing committee tasked with examining Water Act regulations that will govern the use of agricultural holding ponds and high-capacity wells. During question period on Friday, Myers compared the work of an all-party standing committee on natural resources and environmental sustainability, which had been tasked with making recommendations related the province’s Water Act, to Maggie Simpson, a character from the popular TV series The Simpsons.

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