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.
OSO Hotwater Group, a Norwegian company known for its smart stainless steel hot water tanks, is now operating in Canada with the launch of OSO Hotwater Inc. in New Brunswick. CEO Roy A. Magnussen said the company is responding to the need for better water heating tech in Canada, especially for energy-saving and sustainable purposes.
Three popular swimming spots in the greater Saint John area have reopened after being shut down last week because of elevated E. coli levels. Lily Lake and Tucker Park in Saint John and Gondola Point Beach in Quispamsis, N.B., all reopened for swimming Monday after subsequent testing indicated "water quality has returned to normal levels," said Department of Health spokesperson Sean Hatchard. CBC News asked what the elevated readings were and how they compare to set guidelines, but Hatchard did not respond.
Saint John has been temporarily removed from the national COVID-19 wastewater surveillance dashboard over concerns about the accuracy of its data. Public Health Agency of Canada officials believe "the sampling point and treatment of the sample prior to testing was the origin of the test variance," said spokesperson Anna Maddison. This suggests "the reported values are not reflective of the community burden," said spokesperson Nicholas Janveau.
Taylor Kormann didn't know what to expect when she signed up to collect the goopy leftovers of her laundry cycles for a year as a part of a citizen science project for the Atlantic Coastal Action Program. "It was almost shocking to see what's coming out of the laundry," Kormann said. Kormann and 22 other Saint John residents spent 2022 collecting the wet lint from their washing machines to measure the microplastics their wash cycles were contributing to the city's water system.
For a day and a half, Susan Holita lived with the prospect of having her water shut off — through no fault of her own. She was stressed and wasn't exactly sure when the water would stop. Not knowing when it would happen was almost as stressful as the prospect of living without running water. Holita has been living in the one-bedroom condo on Golding Street, near St. Joseph's Hospital, since she moved to Saint John, N.B., in 2018 and has always paid her rent, which includes water.
It was a warm, sunny Aug. 25 morning when we departed from the public slip at Gagetown in a flat-bottomed, aluminum boat. Our guides were three Ducks Unlimited employees: outreach specialist Samantha Brewster and conservation specialist Frank Merrill, both based in Fredericton, and Adam Campbell of the Sackville area, the group's manager of Atlantic operations.
With political momentum building for a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Atlantic Canada, a new coalition of environmentalists is calling on Ottawa to hit the brakes. The new group Stop the Gas includes veterans of the battle over shale gas development in New Brunswick a decade ago. Jim Emberger of the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance says the new push for LNG exports is about governments and gas companies trying to wring maximum profits out of an energy source destined to decline because of tougher climate change policies.
Irving Oil is expanding hydrogen capacity at its Saint John, N.B., refinery in a bid to lower carbon emissions and offer clean energy to customers. The family-owned company said Tuesday it has a deal with New York-based Plug Power Inc. to buy a five-megawatt hydrogen electrolyzer that will produce two tonnes of hydrogen a day — equivalent to fuelling 60 buses with hydrogen — using electricity from the local grid.
A New Brunswick judge has tossed out a class action lawsuit against the City of Saint John that flowed from alleged damage to homes and appliances caused by leaky pipes. In her decision released on Tuesday, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Tracey DeWare found the city did not breach its standard of care when it switched the water source for about 5,600 west side Saint John customers back in 2017. As a result, she said the city does not owe the complainants for damages they alleged to have suffered as a result.
About 600 east Saint John homes and businesses are under a boil water after a 53-year-old water main broke. The break in the 250-millimetre (roughly 10-inch) cast iron water main on Hickey Road, near On the Vine Meat & Produce, was discovered "late Friday evening into early Saturday morning," said city spokesperson Nathalie Logan. It left area residents without any water for about 14 hours, according to Logan.
The City of Saint John says three roads are still closed or partly covered in water after a rainstorm earlier this week. On Monday and Tuesday, a storm brought up to 75 millilitres of rain in southern areas of New Brunswick. Roads were flooded and buses were rerouted in the Saint John area. But two days after the rain stopped, some roads still have standing water, affecting traffic.
The Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association (DIPRA) welcomes the Canadian city of Saint John, New Brunswick into its Sesquicentennial Club recognizing the city for its continued use of a 150-year-old cast iron water pipe. "Cities that made the commitment to laying iron pipe more than a century ago understand that vital role that such strong, resilient, and durable pipes play in long-lasting infrastructure," said DIPRA President Patrick J. Hogan. "We're excited to welcome the city of Saint John to the Sesquicentennial Club and honor the decisions made by the water and engineering professionals who best understand their community's needs for safe and reliable drinking water."
Most Saint Johners likely never give Marsh Creek a second thought. The stream winds its way across much of the east side of the city, starting at the far eastern end of city limits, and emptying into Courtenay Bay, a linear distance of about seven kilometres. The creek is a nearly invisible refuge for local wildlife, and few people have ever visited its banks on the marshlands that make up a good portion of east Saint John.
The village of Alma continues to be under a boil-water order first instated Friday. Early Friday morning, a lighting storm took out the electronics that control the village water pump. Restaurants closed that morning, and by Saturday the pump was back up and running. But residents were asked to continue to conserve water and to boil it before ingesting it. Alma Mayor Andrew Casey said the village needs three consecutive good water tests taken 24 hours apart to lift the advisory. Until then, residents must bring water to a rolling boil for at least one minute before ingesting it, brushing their teeth or washing food.
Saint John is set to undergo $38.7 million worth of upgrades to its water and wastewater infrastructure, some of which date back to 1872. The project involves upgrading and separating a portion of uptown Saint John's aging combined sewer system, which will include excavating and repairing the water and sewer pipe system and designing and constructing additional wastewater infrastructure, according to a provincial government media release issued Wednesday.
People in six west Saint John neighbourhoods could have new drinking water in two weeks. Those areas; Randolph, Milford, Fundy Heights, Lower West, Duck Cove and Sand Cove, will be disconnected from the current groundwater well system and switched to treated water from the Loch Lomond Lakes on the city's east side as early as Feb. 12. City water commissioner Brent McGovern said there will be a changeover period of as much as two weeks during which water from both sources will be in the system.
Less than two years after switching Saint John's west side to a new drinking water system, the city is now diverting many of those same neighbourhoods to a new water source. The areas affected include Saint John's lower west side, Milford, Randolph, Fundy Heights, Duck Cove and Sand Cove. They are to begin receiving surface water from the Loch Lomond Treatment plant on the city's east side by the end of the year. At the same time the city has cancelled its contract with the engineering firm that was instrumental in the creation of the west side well field water system and hired a law firm to pursue the company, BGC Engineering, for costs.
A new $40 thousand report concludes scaly material that built up over decades in the water pipes of west Saint John homes was weakened by a change in the water source, which eventually caused leaks. The report follows over 200 complaints of leaking pipes and a series of angry public meetings that concluded in an ongoing class action lawsuit.
For well over a year, Rob and Connie Crow have struggled to keep their failing water well from quitting altogether. First the water softener stopped working. They discovered the water coming from the well carried a gritty substance that left an oily film on their hands. Rob shrugs when asked what it is. "I can guarantee you it's not good for you," he said.
