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.
Students at McMaster University's downtown residence are hoping a chlorination treatment of the building's water system will help them feel more comfortable to drink their tap water. McMaster said consultants had recommended using chlorine to sanitize the water after it tested positive for total coliforms bacteria. Students had complained of the murkiness of the water, among other issues at the residence.
City officials ordered two Downtown public water fountains be disconnected ahead of a heat wave last weekend because of complaints from the police and library staff, shedding light on how Edmonton navigates conflicts around impoverished people’s basic needs and demands by others to tackle social disorder and safety concerns. Epcor cut off the water supply from the fire hydrants at the city’s request last Thursday. The weekend after the bottle filling stations at 96 Street near Bissell Centre West and 100 Street outside Stanley A. Milner Library were removed, temperatures were so hot Environment Canada warned the public to take precautions because of the heat.
The Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation (LSCFN) claims that remediation work at an abandoned mine site in its traditional territory is only making things worse and so they are asking the Yukon Water Board to step in and change things. The subject of LSCFN’s complaint is the Mount Nansen mine site, a former gold and silver project located west of Carmacks that was heralded as an environmental disaster and an embarrassment to Canada, the Yukon and the mining firm involved when it was abandoned in 1999.
Kurtis Anderson says the water at his home in Regina's south end smells and tastes terrible. "It really just kind of smells like soil, like organic matter," he said in an interview on Friday. The problem, which began a few weeks ago, is not just limited to drinking water. His family's clothes have the same cloying smell after being run through the wash, their dishes appear to be coated in something and even the water in the shower reeks. "It seems to come and go a little bit, but there's times where it's really bad," Anderson said. The problem isn't coming from inside their home. It's coming from the water source.
Durham Region has halted work on a road rebuilding project after neighbours complained they stumbled upon contaminated waste in the new road bed. Work was shut down on the rehab project in Clarington, 100 kilometres east of Toronto, about two weeks ago. A consultant was called in to check what crews had been using in a lower layer of the rebuilt road. "I was picking up syringes, batteries, pieces of metal, razor blades," local farmer Andrew McVey said this week. "There's all kinds of crap ... various garbage that I felt should not be part of what's being buried in the road "
If all goes according to plan, there should be smoother sailing in Collingwood Harbour this summer. During Monday’s (Feb 7) corporate and community services standing committee meeting, harbour master and director of parks, recreation and culture Dean Collver provided an update to councillors on the town’s process to apply for a Vessel Operation Restriction Regulations (VORR), a federal tool that would be used to help enforce no-wake rules in Collingwood Harbour.
The water flowing from Joel Pickard's faucet looked clear at first. But after pouring a glass — he could tell something was wrong. "I could just smell the dirt, so I took a drink and it tasted like dirt," he said. The Bathurst resident noticed what appeared to be sediment in his drinking water, so he reported it to the city in June. They told him it was safe, so his family continued using it until the taste became too strong to swallow.
Thunder Bay residents can now get interest-free loans from the city to help cover the costs of removing lead water service pipes. Councillors unanimously approved a $1.3-million, interest-free loan program on Monday. The loans are available now and come in five-year terms (except for those who qualify for the city's tax and water rebate programs, who can get 10-year loans).
“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”
