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.
President Joe Biden's administration has announced a plan to rip out nine million lead water pipes across the US. The 10-year proposal aims to shield communities from a neurotoxin that can cause permanent damage to the brain and nervous system, especially in children. It would cost about $30bn (£24bn), the Environmental Protection Agency says.
The British Columbia government has changed its tune on a long-requested investigation into contamination from mines flowing into U.S. waters, opening the door to progress on an issue that has drawn the attention of President Joe Biden. The province has confirmed to The Canadian Press that it would now welcome a role in such an investigation for the International Joint Commission, a body created in 1909 to resolve water-related disputes between the two countries.
The federal government says it's making Canada's largest investment ever in protecting the nation's sources of fresh water — including the Great Lakes. Commitments announced by the government during U.S. President Joe Biden's visit and in the recent budget bring the federal government's total investment to $750 million, said Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
Eileen Delehanty Pearkes has been researching and writing about the history and politics of water in the upper Columbia Basin since 2005. Her book on the Columbia River Treaty, A River Captured, was released in 2016. Pearkes has agreed to help readers of The Nelson Daily understand the importance of the Columbia River Treaty to the region in her column River Talk. Today, Pearkes writes about the push from 21 members of the United States Congress for President Joe Biden to get his administration involved in Treaty negotiations.
Biden’s proposal includes US$45 billion to eliminate all lead pipes and service lines nationwide. The funding would go to programs administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This effort would affect an estimated 6 million to 10 million homes, along with 400,000 schools and child care facilities. I see it as one of the nation’s best chances to finally get the lead out of the nation’s drinking water, and its children.
Canada will collect data on the impact of siting a disproportionate number of polluting industries and landfills in areas inhabited by racial minority communities, federal lawmakers voted Wednesday. The bill aims to tackle "environmental racism," where Indigenous, Black and other racial minority communities are exposed to higher levels of dirty air, contaminated water or other toxins and pollutants. One of the most famous cases is in the Indigenous Grassy Narrows First Nation community in Ontario, where residents have since the 1960s suffered health impacts from mercury contamination produced by a former pulp and paper mill.
