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 jump in the lake is just the thing on a hot, summer day – but maybe not in some areas of these five lakes. The province is warning that blue-green algae has been spotted in five Halifax-area lakes and another three throughout Nova Scotia. “This year we haven’t had any reports of anyone becoming sick or any dogs being harmed by blue-green algae,” said Elizabeth Kennedy, the director of the water branch for Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change.
Chocolate Lake Beach is closed to swimming until further notice as the municipality tests samples to see if a toxin-producing algae is present in the water, according the Halifax Regional Municipality. People are advised to avoid any contact with the lake water, and that warning extends to pets, since a bloom is suspected. The popular spot is one of three beaches in the municipality now closed.
Homeowners looking for a new water source after blue-green algae was confirmed in Grand Lake, N.S., should not expect the provincial government to help foot the bill. "Homeowners are responsible for the cost of getting safe drinkable water to their home, whether they hook up to a municipal system or dig a well," provincial Environment Minister Keith Irving said Thursday. Irving said the province's role is to investigate and provide information to the public so they can make informed decisions.
Toxins associated with blue-green algae have been confirmed in Grand Lake, N.S., but the province's Department of Environment is awaiting further test results for pesticides and other chemical contaminants. Those results are expected soon, the department said. In the meantime, people are still being urged to avoid drinking the water in Grand Lake, and avoid any skin contact with the water. "We still want people to be cautious and not use the water," Julie Towers, deputy minister of the Department of Environment and Climate Change, told media outside the East Hants Aquatic Centre in Elmsdale, N.S.
Blue-green algae has returned as the main suspect in the Grand Lake water contamination saga. “The National Research Council lab did confirm that there are what are known as … the toxins associated with blue-green algae that were collected on Friday,” Julie Towers, deputy minister of the provincial Environment Department, said at a news conference in Elmsdale on Tuesday afternoon.
Tri Nguyen-Quang, an engineering professor whose research includes water quality and management, collected samples of the lake water around the shoreline last week. "I think there is some very harmful substance, chemical substance in the water. But that I don't know yet," Nguyen-Quang said Monday. "So far, just the impression that … something is not normal there."
The Department of Environment and local veterinarians are pointing to blue-green algae as one of the most likely causes of contamination at Grand Lake, N.S., that led to the death of two dogs and one person being hospitalized this week. An alert was issued early Thursday morning warning all residents who take water directly from Grand Lake to stop using the water immediately. Residents near Grand Lake who don't receive water from a municipal utility are advised not to consume their water, or use it for cooking, bathing, swimming or boating, until told otherwise.
Nova Scotia's Department of Environment is investigating a suspected blue-green algae bloom in Grand Lake, north of Fall River, after two dogs died and one person was sent to hospital Wednesday. The province issued an emergency alert early Thursday morning, warning all residents who take water directly from Grand Lake to stop using the water immediately. "What we do know is there's obviously a toxin," Julie Towers, the department's deputy minister, said Thursday afternoon. "Whether it's human-caused or a natural source is to be determined."
