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.
Nunavut's health department says it has not yet begun its third party review into last year's water crisis in Iqaluit. In October 2021, the city went nearly two months without clean tap water after hydrocarbons were detected in the city's water supply and ultimately traced to the water treatment plant. A "do not consume" order from territorial health officials was lifted in December, after a bypass had been set up at the plant.
Nunavut's Health Department has lifted a precautionary boil-water advisory for the city of Iqaluit. The capital's 8,000 people had been under the advisory since Jan. 19 when the city started using a bypass system to pump water to residents. The city shut down its treatment plant the same day after drinking water coming from taps was found to contain traces of fuel. The water was also contaminated with fuel late last year and residents were under a do-not-consume order for two months.
The City of Iqaluit shut down its water treatment plant Wednesday after the water was contaminated last week with fuel for the second time. The city said a breach in the system is suspected to have caused residents to smell fuel in their water, with breaches detected last week and Wednesday. The city said it is using a bypass system to pump water to residents instead and the entire territorial capital is now under a precautionary boil water advisory.
