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.
Concerns are rising as work begins on a water treatment plant in Beausejour, Man., prompting some residents to challenge government officials over potential impacts on the Brokenhead River. The new facility in the east end of the town will treat well water using reverse osmosis. A pipe is being installed along Park Avenue to send the filtered well water the system rejects into the Brokenhead River, raising questions on how that might affect water quality and wildlife.
When government officials were invited to Serpent River First Nation to tour dead lakes, they refused to drink the coffee and tea. They were told not to worry; the beverages weren’t made from tailings pond water. Dr. Lianne Leddy told her grandmother’s story during Nipissing University’s 2022 Anne Clendinning Memorial Lecture. Leddy is the author of the new book, Serpent River Resurgence: Confronting Uranium Mining at Elliot Lake. Dr. Leddy is a member of Serpent River First Nation and associate professor in Indigenous Studies at Wilfred Laurier University.
Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency asked Japan on Tuesday for full and detailed information about a plan to release treated but still radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. The three-member team, which is assisting Japan with the planned release, met Tuesday with government officials to discuss technical details before traveling to the Fukushima Daiichi plant for an on-site examination Wednesday. They will meet with Japanese experts through Friday.
“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.”
