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.
Buried beneath the gravel shoulder of the intersection is a 16-inch diameter wide water main. The pipe is part of the Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System, the same vast network that carries treated Lake Huron water to 15 municipalities across an area the size of Prince Edward Island. Parts of London, along with Middlesex Centre, Strathroy-Caradoc, Lucan-Biddulph, Grand Bend and others, are supplied by this system.
Elliot Lake City Council offered unanimous approval Monday night for a plan to get aging sewer and water lines out of Elliot Lake. Director of Public Works Daryl Halloch asked council to commit nearly half a million dollars to attract a Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) Green Stream grant. The federal and provincial money would be used to help pay the unfunded portion of the project which would see new water and sewer lines installed in the North Industrial area on Timber Road. The city's share is projected to be up to $480,000, or 26.67 per cent of the eligible costs, which would commit the grant application.
