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.
Residents were seen checking out the damage on Buck Lake early Thursday morning, the day after a tanker truck hauling edible beef fat rolled into the body of water. The truck was driving on Perth Road near Hilltop Lane Wednesday when it fell into the western basin of Buck Lake in South Frontenac Township, Ont. The Ministry of Environment assessed the damage that same day, along with any possible environmental concerns.
The fuel contamination of Iqaluit’s water supply left people asking a lot of questions, not least of which was — how did it get there in the first place? Answering this question was one requirement among a longer list of must-dos before the territory’s chief public health officer, Dr. Michael Patterson, would consider telling people the city’s water was safe to drink again after diesel fuel was detected in the city’s water system in October. Patterson did lift the do-not-consume water advisory on Dec. 10, nearly two months after it was imposed on Oct. 12. The original suspect was a crack in one of two underground holding tanks at Iqaluit’s water treatment plant, where water sits in chlorine before moving into a treated reservoir, called the North Clear well.
The Canadian military has suspended its operation to pump potable water from the Sylvia Grinnell River during the city’s ongoing water emergency, spokesperson Maj. Susan Magill says. The call was made on Tuesday, after wind gusts of up to 100 km/h on Monday snapped the frame of a tent that was covering the tanks used for holding purified water along the river. “Right now, everything is at a standstill,” Magill said Wednesday. The city and Government of Nunavut ordered residents not to drink the city’s water on Oct. 12, after people complained of a fuel-like smell coming from their taps. It was later confirmed diesel fuel had contaminated the city’s water supply.
The City of Iqaluit, Canada is hiring temporary workers to help with water distribution as its water emergency enters its seventh week, according to Nunatsiaq News. The city’s water emergency began in October, when people began complaining of a fuel-like smell in their tap water. On 12 October, the city reported fuel, later confirmed to be diesel fuel, had contaminated its water treatment plant. The city and Government of Nunavut declared states of emergency later that day that are still in effect. Volunteers played a significant role in water distribution earlier during the emergency, but support has since waned.
The City of Iqaluit urged its residents to have enough water on hand to last for 72 hours because of strong winds and heavy snowfall expected to start Monday night and end on Tuesday. “The City is recommending that residents refill water, in the event that the potential incoming storm limits their ability to leave their homes and get to water refilling depots,” Aleksey Cameron, communications manager with the city, said to Nunatsiaq News in an email. Tuesday marks the start of the seventh week that Nunavut’s largest community has been under an order not to consume city tap water, after diesel fuel was detected in the water in October. Many residents have been getting their water from city-run filling stations that provide water purified by the Canadian Armed Forces, who draw water from the Sylvia Grinnell River and run it through their temporary purification system.
