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.
Before the 2023 water season, contractors hired by Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation made repairs to Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District (LNID) canal’s lining that had be leaking for several years. But after the repairs were made and the water turned on in April, it was discovered more leaks had been created by the repair work.
Smart meters have been a target of conversation since a bylaw change during the July 11, 2022, city council meeting. The change amended the sewer and water utility bylaw so contractors can enter private properties to perform the meter installation. This bylaw was changed to ensure homeowners cannot reject the device. The bylaw is expected to be amended by September.
Cape Breton Regional Municipality is starting to take down some trees in Sydney's only urban forest as part of a flood mitigation project, but not everyone is convinced it will work. Contractors started knocking down trees on Monday, using a giant mechanical mulcher to clear a service road into the 28-hectare Baille Ard Trail system. Even though John Duffy lives in the flood zone created by the Wash Brook that runs through the forest, he said he is "disappointed and heartbroken. Anytime we lose any natural forestation, I think this is a terrible thing."
The deadline has been extended for livestock producers wanting to apply to the Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program. The announcement for the temporary enhanced funding came Tuesday from the Canadian and Saskatchewan governments. In a release, the provincial government acknowledged that producers have experienced difficulties in sourcing materials and contractors to build water development projects following 2021’s drought conditions. The program is now adjusted to allow producers who plan to claim more than $50,000 in rebates to submit a preliminary application by Mar. 31, 2022 in order to complete their projects.
Restoration companies and contractors in British Columbia that are about to help launch a massive flood cleanup and repair effort must be aware of the risks and hazards their work could pose to employees, says the province's worker protection agency. The risks vary depending on the flood and slide damage, but potential hazards include building materials with asbestos, chemical or biological contamination, structural or electrical damage and animal carcasses, said Barry Nakahara, WorkSafeBC's senior prevention services field manager.
Rebecca Zagozewski, executive director of the Saskatchewan First Nations Water Association, said she has seen contractors save on costs when building water treatment plants on reserves by using obsolete parts and failing to include maintenance manuals, ventilation or chemical rooms, and bathrooms. “Engineering companies will put in their bids obviously as low as they can go,” said Zagozewski.
Ottawa’s construction and development industries will likely be affected by changes to the city’s drinking water licence that come into effect with province-wide changes on Monday. The changes may also affect traffic because water mains will take longer to connect in the right of way, Kevin Wylie, the city’s general manager of public works and environmental services, wrote in a memo to city council.
“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.”
"This investigation is going to open a can of worms," Quisess said. "We want Canadians to know the full story. We want Canadians to know how the tax dollars are used." Neskantaga's plant was built in 1993 and has never adequately treated and disinfected water. A long-term drinking water advisory was put in place on Feb. 1, 1995, less than two years after the plant was commissioned. It's been in effect ever since.
At the community's request, Indigenous Services Canada has replaced the top federal bureaucrat working with Neskantaga First Nation during its current state of emergency. Assistant deputy minister Joanne Wilkinson has taken over from Ontario regional director general Anne Scotton as the liaison between department officials and Neskantaga — a fly-in community about 450 km north of Thunder Bay, Ont., that has been under a boil-water advisory for 25 years.
Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller has overruled a senior departmental official over the framing of an investigation into Neskantaga First Nation's 25-year-long water crisis, CBC News has learned. Anne Scotton, the department's Ontario regional director general, informed Neskantaga Chief Chris Moonias on Thursday afternoon by email that the terms of reference for the investigation would be finalized soon, and that a consultant had been chosen to manage the third-party probe. There was a line in the attached document for the chief's signature.
Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller is preparing to launch a third-party investigation into the business practices of consultants and engineering companies hired to end Canada's longest-standing boil water advisory — a probe that could extend to other communities, CBC News has learned. "The problem is we have a system for delivering infrastructure that always goes with the lowest bidder," Angus said. "When you have a big-ticket item, like a water plant that's very expensive to build in a community, costs and corners get cut and that's the danger. Neskantaga has been a nightmare situation."
Many government agencies knew about the suspicious well water in Ramsay Meadows, a small subdivision halfway between Almonte and Carleton Place. But none of those agencies told the residents. The 49 homes stand across the street from the National Research Council’s national fire lab, which does research on firefighting. In late 2013, the lab bosses learned that their firefighting chemicals had contaminated their property’s groundwater, probably in the late 1900s.
