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.
It's a sight Andrew Arreak says he's never seen before in Pond Inlet: open water at a time when the sea ice should be thick enough to sled on. Some people are still going out in boats. Others are finding alternate ways of accessing the land, since the ice they rely on for hunting and fishing is now a month late forming. In the Arctic hamlet of about 1,600 people, high winds keep pushing the sea ice away from the community, Arreak said.
Water and wastewater treatment "Access to safe drinking water is a fundamental of community life," said Joanasie. "As communities grow and regulations change, so do the demands on our existing, aging infrastructure." A total of $31 million is being put toward improvements in water and wastewater infrastructure improvements in seven communities. The project allocations are as follows: $187,000 to design a water treatment plant to replace the current pump house in Arctic Bay. $2,091,000 for the construction of a new water treatment plant in Grise Fiord. $698,000 for construction work to complete upgrades to the water intake in Kugluktuk. $188,000 to begin design of a new water treatment plant in Pond Inlet. $275,000 to proceed with the design of a wastewater treatment plant to adequately treat both piped and trucked wastewater in Resolute Bay. $188,000 to begin design on a new water treatment plant in Sanikiluaq. $450,000 to begin design work on upgrades and new sewage lagoon to treat wastewater in Sanikiluaq.
