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.
A judge has ordered the Yukon Water Board to reconsider a land use approval and water licence application from a Dawson-area placer operation. Yukon Supreme Court Deputy Justice Adele Kent, in a decision last month, wrote that the board's denial of Fellhawk Enterprises Ltd.'s application in 2022 was unreasonable and based on ungrounded speculation.
It's part of the city's monitoring for cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, in the water supply for the province's largest metro area. The photosynthetic bacteria can be found in many waterways and isn't necessarily harmful, but some types can produce toxins harmful to humans and animals. The discovery of cyanobacteria in the reservoir six years ago triggered a multimillion-dollar research and upgrade effort that's ongoing.
Water licences are required for most mining operations and typically come with a number of conditions, which may include a requirement to provide a security cash deposit so funds are available for clean-up and remediation efforts should anything go wrong. Every two years, mining companies are required to submit reclamation and closure plans, to ensure sufficient security. Buchan said Victoria Gold hasn't been in compliance with that process, pointing to a lack of information on adjustments to its heap leach pad involving certain recontouring work, and apparent snow removal obligations from that site.
A New Brunswick judge has tossed out a class action lawsuit against the City of Saint John that flowed from alleged damage to homes and appliances caused by leaky pipes. In her decision released on Tuesday, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Tracey DeWare found the city did not breach its standard of care when it switched the water source for about 5,600 west side Saint John customers back in 2017. As a result, she said the city does not owe the complainants for damages they alleged to have suffered as a result.
She was surprised to find out her home had a public lead service line (LSL) delivering water from the city’s water mains — especially because she was pregnant while living there. “I freaked out,” Cohen says. “I called the city immediately, and I think they actually told me that they weren’t even sure if they could check our pipes, because I think it was the end of their cycle.”
WorksafeNB has made clear that lawyers from outside the Atlantic bubble cannot enter courthouses in New Brunswick without first self-isolating for 14 days. The decision could have an impact on how a class-action lawsuit filed by west Saint John residents is conducted. The defendant in the case, the City of Saint John, has enlisted Toronto lawyers Glenn Zakaib and David Elman as counsel.
Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil has sided against a pulp mill’s plea for a lifeline in a move that has bitterly split his province, earning praise from environmental, fisheries and Indigenous groups, but angering many in the province’s forestry sector. The Northern Pulp mill in Pictou had been asking for an extension on a provincially imposed deadline to stop dumping contaminated wastewater in Boat Harbour, next to the Pictou Landing First Nation, in what many have called one of the province’s worst examples of pollution linked to racism.
