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.
Water from the site of the Minto tire fire is still being collected and treated, more than two years after the fire burned for several days in the village. The Department of Environment and Local Government has previously told CBC News that a number of different contaminants have been found in monitoring wells, including "petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, metals, dioxins and furans," as well as the pollutant perfluorooctanesulfonic acid.
