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.
St. John's residents will be paying higher property and water taxes in 2024 as the city grapples with higher road maintenance costs and aging snow-clearing and garbage trucks. The residential mill rate is going up by 9.64 per cent, to 9.1 mills. The mill rate increase, plus a 3.4 increase in property assessments, means the average homeowners will see their property tax go up by just over $240 per year. Residential water taxes will go up by $5.
Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd. is challenging charges laid by Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore energy regulator in relation to a 2019 spill that sent 12,000 litres of oil into the Atlantic Ocean. Lawyers representing the energy giant entered not guilty pleas when the case was called in St. John's provincial court on Thursday.
Newfoundland and Labrador municipalities can't stop the impact of climate change, but two climate action consultants say more can be done prepare for extreme weather events. St. John's city crews scrambled this week to repair flood and erosion damage after three days of record-breaking rainfall from post-tropical storm Earl. As of Wednesday, four roads were still closed for repairs. Jess Puddister, a scientist and climate action consultant, said watching the damage play out was "frustrating."
The City of St. John's is scheduling rehabilitation work for water mains on streets in the Churchill Square area in 2022 and 2023. Work will begin in early September and is expected to be finished in November. There is also some work scheduled for spring 2023, expected to be completed in fall 2023. The project will include cleaning and structural lining of the existing water mains. The City of St. John’s awarded Fer-Pal Construction Ltd. the contract to complete the work.
A conservation team is working to research lost or covered waterways using geographic technology to analyze water quality. The Conversation Corp N.L.’s Green Team, in partnership with Northeast Avalon ACAP (NAACAP), has begun analyzing the Virginia River and implementing other guidelines to assess other spots along the river. The team has been recording measurements of the sites and assessing culvert conditions, depth and velocity of the water, PH value, dissolved oxygen, total organic solids, salt content and temperature conditions.
The federal government has announced $27 million in funding for three projects to improve public services and protect waters in St. John’s, Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove and surrounding communities in Newfoundland and Labrador. In St. John’s, new wastewater infrastructure will improve municipal services in the Goulds area and help protect Shoal Bay and the harbour. In addition, there will be ditching and erosion control measures taken along the Motion Bay Road extension in Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove. The federal government is spending $9.8 million, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is contributing $7.4 million and the municipalities are providing a total of $9.8 million, stated a release.
Much of Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula was left dealing with flooding and strong winds Sunday, while Labrador braced for blizzard conditions. Blair Sparkes of Environment Canada's Gander weather office says several areas on the Avalon Peninsula reported more than 70 mm of rain overnight Saturday. Sparkes said melting snow also contributed to the flooding. "Temperatures did get up fairly warm overnight, generally running around eight to 10 degrees now over the Avalon Peninsula — actually, most of eastern and southern Newfoundland are seeing those kind of numbers," he said Sunday on CBC Radio's Weekend AM.
An investment of $104,800 will be made to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve water quality in St. John’s and Corner Brook in Newfoundland and Labrador, thanks to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) Green Municipal Fund (GMF). The announcement was made July 20 by Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O’Regan Jr. and FCM president Joanne Vanderheyden.
A Memorial University professor says the Newfoundland and Labrador government is taking a big risk by building a mental health and addictions facility in an area that has flooded repeatedly over the past few decades. The location of the new mental health hospital, near the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's on a flood plain, has drawn criticism from many, including Joseph Daraio, a hydraulic engineer and MUN associate professor. "It's not a really good idea to put any building in a flood plain," said Daraio in a recent interview. "Especially something that would include such a high risk to so many people in a flood plain."
St. John's Mayor Danny Breen says the city is facing a wastewater problem that will cost tens of millions of dollars to fix — and he wants more time from the federal government to do it. Changes to federal government regulations in 2014 required cities to test the levels of suspended solids and chemical biological oxygen demand — essentially, the amount of oxygen needed for organic material to be broken down in water. The levels found in St. John's mean the city has to build a secondary treatment facility by the end of 2020, which Breen said will cost the city about $85 million to build.
Thousands of city residents who get their drinking water from that source were warned not to drink their tap water in late August, after reports the water was discoloured by manganese. "The number of discoloured water reports to the city from residents serviced by the Perry Harbour Long Pond water supply have significantly decreased," the statement said.
Mayor Danny Breen says "nothing could be further from the truth" in response to allegations the City of St. John's knew about water issues and didn't advise the public until recently. "The integrity of our water supply is one of our most important commitments — and we would never take any unnecessary risks with our water," Breen said in a statement to St. John's City Council Tuesday evening.
