Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

brook trout

Watershed groups urge P.E.I. to keep road salt away from waterways

Watershed groups urge P.E.I. to keep road salt away from waterways

Watershed groups on P.E.I. have created education campaigns encouraging Islanders to use less road salt — and keep it out of waterways — because of the impact on animals and the environment. The Trout River Environmental Committee (TREC) launched its campaign last week, in partnership with the Wheatley River Improvement Group. "The purpose is mostly just to raise awareness of the issue. A lot of people don't know the impacts of road salt, so we wanted to get the word out," said Shayla Steinhoff, project manager for TREC. 

Contaminant from coal mines already high in some Alberta rivers: unreported data

Contaminant from coal mines already high in some Alberta rivers: unreported data

The province's plan for large-scale expansion of the industry is fueling widespread criticism that includes concerns over selenium pollution. The data shows that same contaminant has been found for years at high levels downstream of three mines and never publicly reported. The findings raise questions about Alberta Environment, said a former senior official who has seen the data. "There were lots of [selenium] numbers and it was consistently above the water quality guidelines and in many cases way higher," said Bill Donahue, the department's one-time executive director of science. "Why did Alberta Environment sit on these data for easily the last 10 to 15 years?"

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