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.
The Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories says 450 million litres of wastewater spilled due to a broken pipeline. The spill took place on Feb. 7 but wasn't reported to the Northwest Territories government until late last week. The territorial government says pipeline operators did not initially believe it needed to be reported as the wastewater leaked into a containment pond that was its final destination.
Rio Tinto has commissioned a second tunnel to carry water into the Kemano Powerhouse in British Columbia, Canada, marking completion of the 960MW Kemano T2 hydropower project. The new 16km tunnel was filled up with water and produced its first megawatt of electricity in July 2022 after its construction was completed in May 2022. Both T1 and T2 are now operating together, ensuring the long-term reliability of the power supply for Rio Tinto’s BC Works aluminium smelter in Kitimat and neighbouring communities.
Nikolaus Gantner is searching for clues in 12 mysterious deaths along British Columbia’s Nechako River. It’s not your usual whodunnit. The dead are white sturgeon, North America’s largest and longest-living freshwater fish. The species has been around for more than 200 million years, sharing the planet eons ago with dinosaurs.
A group of B.C. First Nations are calling on Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Alcan to release more water into the Nechako River after a sudden die-off of endangered white sturgeon. Last month, B.C.’s Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship reported 11 dead adult white sturgeon had been found in the Nechako River — an unusual occurrence. White sturgeon can grow to six metres long and live more than 100 years. They are an endangered species with between 300 and 600 remaining in the wild. Scientists said the fish had not died from disease, chemical exposure or due to fishing, and had no signs of injury. The government then reached out to local First Nations.
The Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako passed a resolution to acknowledge the “long-standing interference” on the claims of Indigenous communities in the Nechako First Nations region. Construction and operation of the Kenney Dam has caused interference on the claim of Aboriginal rights and title of First Nations, specifically Saik’uz First Nation, Stellat’en First Nation and Nadleh Whut’en, RDBN officials noted in a March 10 news release. Officials are asking the federal government, provincial government and Rio Tinto to do “all things necessary to support the efforts of the Nechako First Nations to restore the ecosystem functioning of the Nechako River and its affected tributaries.”
