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.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says Alberta's nine-month silence over two releases of toxic oilsands tailings water is worrisome. He says Alberta is supposed to notify the federal government over such releases within 24 hours. In this case, Alberta government agencies seem to have known about seepage from Imperial Oil's Kearl oilsand tailings pond for nine months before making a public statement on it.
In its June 17 decision, the joint review panel said the mine’s likely selenium impacts posed too great a risk to southern Alberta’s water supply. It specifically cited the headwaters of the Oldman River in southern Alberta, which flows east from the Rocky Mountains and eventually joins up with the Bow River to form the South Saskatchewan River.
