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.
Private well users in Newfoundland and Labrador are being encouraged to test the quality of their well water for free. The province said over 2,000 well water chemistry kits are still available for pick up through Digital Government and Service N.L. regional offices to provide well owners with detailed information on the chemical levels in their drinking water.
Changes to the flow of the Labrador Current along the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador to Nova Scotia are leading to sudden warmings or drops in the oxygen levels of the waters in several regions including the St. Lawrence Gulf and Estuary. This change has dire consequences for marine ecosystems and fisheries. To better predict what could happen in the future, researchers set out to answer the question: what controls the pathway of the Labrador Current?
The Newfoundland and Labrador government has released a new plan aimed at improving drinking water safety in the province. The provincial government said from 2017-2022, there have been an average of 191 boil water advisories, which affected 146 communities and about 44,000 people. In comparison, there were 350 boil water advisories throughout the province in 2001.
The company behind a massive, multibillion-dollar green energy plan is asking Newfoundland and Labrador's top court to stop protestors from blocking access to its work sites on the Port au Port Peninsula. Lawyers for World Energy GH2 were in Supreme Court in Corner Brook on Thursday afternoon for a hastily called hearing. A group of protesters has been blocking an access road to one of World Energy's sites, on Newfoundland's west coast, for weeks.
With inflation driving construction costs higher than in previous years, local service distracts are having trouble coming up with the 10 per cent in funding they need to tackle important infrastructure upgrades. When small communities and local service districts in Newfoundland and Labrador need to build roads or water treatment plants, most of the cost is covered by the provincial government. But some districts have started to run into problems, when jobs can no longer be done for the amount of money available by the time tenders go out.
The provincial government is handing out free chemical testing kits to well owners throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. The pilot program looks to give well owners information on the safety of their drinking water and collect baseline groundwater data for the province. About 2,000 chemical test kits will be distributed. The kits can be picked up at no cost at various Digital Government and Service N.L. regional offices.
Debby Rideout had her whole future ahead of her. In August 1987, Rideout had just gotten married, and was already hatching plans to open her own hair salon. Just two days after her wedding, which crammed a hundred revellers into a nearby Lions Club hall, she moved from her hometown of Twillingate to picturesque Moreton’s Harbour, into a cozy wood-panelled home she built from the ground up with her husband, Chris.
A resident of St. Lewis, Labrador is expressing concerns for his community's local water supply and environment as Search Minerals, a rare-earth mining company, moves its operation closer to town. Warwick Chubbs says the company has been working in the area of St. Lewis for two years but things are getting a little too close for comfort for the town of just under 200 people.
Newfoundland and Labrador municipalities can't stop the impact of climate change, but two climate action consultants say more can be done prepare for extreme weather events. St. John's city crews scrambled this week to repair flood and erosion damage after three days of record-breaking rainfall from post-tropical storm Earl. As of Wednesday, four roads were still closed for repairs. Jess Puddister, a scientist and climate action consultant, said watching the damage play out was "frustrating."
The government of Newfoundland and Labrador is relaxing its relocation assistance requirements for residents of Mud Lake who want to move over fears of future flooding. The central Labrador community was hit hard in 2017 when flooding of the Churchill River destroyed properties and forced people from their homes. Some blamed the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project for the flood — a class-action suit making its way through the court system is seeking damages from Crown corporation Nalcor Energy — but an independent report in 2017 determined natural causes were likely to blame, concluding that ice blocked the river's mouth, forcing water over the banks.
An environmental group on Newfoundland's west coast says it supports a proposed wind-to-hydrogen project for the Port au Port Peninsula in principle but doesn't want the impact assessment or consultation process rushed for what could be a precedent-setting project for the province. Katie Temple, the executive director of the Western Environment Centre of Newfoundland, said while the World Energy GH2 proposal could help reduce reduce fossil fuel dependence, the process seems to be "happening very quickly," given the provincial moratorium on wind development in the province was lifted just in April.
The federal government has announced $27 million in funding for three projects to improve public services and protect waters in St. John’s, Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove and surrounding communities in Newfoundland and Labrador. In St. John’s, new wastewater infrastructure will improve municipal services in the Goulds area and help protect Shoal Bay and the harbour. In addition, there will be ditching and erosion control measures taken along the Motion Bay Road extension in Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove. The federal government is spending $9.8 million, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is contributing $7.4 million and the municipalities are providing a total of $9.8 million, stated a release.
The 824MW Muskrat Falls Hydroelectric Generating Station, a key part of the Lower Churchill Project in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, is now complete and has been released to the Newfoundland and Labrador System Operator (NLSO) for service. The Muskrat Falls Corporation received notice of acceptance of the commissioning certificate by the Independent Engineer, who provides oversight on behalf of the Federal Government, late Thursday, November 25.
Button says the storms, wind speeds and rainfall in his community are becoming more severe, and he says he feels it's time to have serious conversations about how communities like his can better prepare for a changing climate. Newfoundland and Labrador's government issued a statement saying no significant damage was recorded during Monday night's storm and that work to repair the highway from last week's flooding was ongoing.
Newfoundland and Labrador has unveiled details of what it says will be the country's first tax on sugary drinks. Government officials said today the tax will hike prices on drinks with added sugars by 20 cents a litre beginning in September 2022. Provincial officials say the tax, expected to raise roughly $9 million a year, will be unique in Canada. Finance Minister Siobhan Coady says the tax is part of the government’s effort to make Newfoundland and Labrador one of Canada's healthiest provinces by 2031.
Now, there's renewed hope from an unlikely source: Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, the mill that has occupied a swath of the the city's waterfront for almost a century. The mill has its own wastewater plant that processes its own effluent, and approached the city last year with an idea to examine expanding that to include municipal sewage. "We thought it was something that would make sense to look at," said Darren Pelley, the vice president and general manager of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper.
Dangerously high water temperatures have closed several salmon angling rivers in Newfoundland and Labrador as officials watch water levels and salmon mortality rates across the province. According to a media release issued this week by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, eight rivers were closed to day anglers due to rising water temperatures over a three-day period. The rivers range across angling zones 5 and 6, including rivers in Port Blandford, Trinity Bay, Alexander Bay, Trinity Bonavista Bay and Indian Bay, A full list of closures can be found in the 2021 Anglers' Guide.
An investment of $104,800 will be made to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve water quality in St. John’s and Corner Brook in Newfoundland and Labrador, thanks to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) Green Municipal Fund (GMF). The announcement was made July 20 by Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O’Regan Jr. and FCM president Joanne Vanderheyden.
Grand Falls-Windsor will see the construction of a new ultraviolet disinfection building. This new infrastructure will benefit the community by increasing its capacity to treat and manage wastewater while meeting the provincial effluent quality requirements. Residents of 9 other municipalities will also benefit from upgrades to their wastewater infrastructure including new and improved lift stations, and water and sewer main replacements. In addition, 12 municipalities will see improvements to their drinking water systems which include the rehabilitation and expansion of water supply mains and connections, new hydrants for improved fire safety, a new pump house building in the Town of Jackson's Cove-Langdon's Cove-Silverdale, and a new chlorination system in the Town of La Scie.
