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 watershed group on P.E.I. hopes it will be smoother swimming for salmon returning to spawn this fall, thanks to a new pilot project run in partnership with the Canadian Wildlife and the Atlantic Salmon federations. The Souris and Area Branch of the P.E.I. Wildlife Federation is leading the project, which builds on work that's already been done in Western Canada while adapting it to the unique conditions in the province.
A P.E.I. regulator has cancelled the licences of Maritime Home Services and its salespeople to sell products door to door on the Island, saying letting the business continue to operate here "would reduce public confidence, expose Island consumers to potential harm or exploitation… and not be in the public interest." Maritime Home Services is also known as Atlantic Environmental Systems Inc. The Nova Scotia company's salespeople promote water treatment equipment, sales and services.
The cost to expand the water and sewer system in the eastern P.E.I. community of Three Rivers is coming in about 30 per cent more expensive than first budgeted. Quotes for the project came in higher than anticipated, said Dorothy Macdonald, interim CEO for the town's services. Despite the unexpected expense, she said the town is ready to get started. "The project is a priority for the town's rivers and currently we have in-hand the ability to work toward 70 per cent of the project," she said. "We're also going to work very hard in the next little while to get that extra 30 per cent, so that we are finishing this project to 100 per cent capacity by the end of next summer."The town originally projected a $4.7 million cost for the project, which will extend the current water and sewage system about 2.5 kilometres from the old border of Montague, into the old community of Brudenell and up to MacDonald Road. It is now looking at closer to $6 million. The 80 new customers who will be using the new expansion will cover most of the extra cost. It was important to her to ensure current customers using the utility did not completely cover the cost of the program, Macdonald said.
Watershed groups on P.E.I. have created education campaigns encouraging Islanders to use less road salt — and keep it out of waterways — because of the impact on animals and the environment. The Trout River Environmental Committee (TREC) launched its campaign last week, in partnership with the Wheatley River Improvement Group. "The purpose is mostly just to raise awareness of the issue. A lot of people don't know the impacts of road salt, so we wanted to get the word out," said Shayla Steinhoff, project manager for TREC.
A rock wall under construction on the beach at Point Deroche, P.E.I., is raising discussion about what is acceptable to protect the shoreline from erosion. Bryson Guptill, an avid hiker of trails and beaches, first noticed the rock wall and beach house development months ago. "It's a problem because people used to walk down that beach and walk all the way along. Now there's so much armour stone that you can't get around. Even at low tide you can't get around."
P.E.I. issued another blue-green algae bloom advisory on Wednesday, after the microscopic organisms causing the phenomenon were found in Murray River's MacLures Pond. Just a day before, the province announced it had discovered blue-green algae in Black Pond near Souris. That was the first time in two years that such a bloom had been reported in the province.
