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.
Environmental studies have been taking place at Pringle Creek over the past two decades to determine the extend and risks of chemical contamination to the Whitby, Ont., waterfront. Leanne Lumb-Collett, environmental program manager for the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), said the source of contamination has been traced to a building adjacent from Pringle Creek, and started decades ago.
The issue of dredging in Hay River’s harbour has been on the table for years. Various branches of government have said the issue is not their responsibility, or they have no money to fund it. In the meantime, barges are dragged through silt, boats are damaged, and fishers say the shallow water is hard to safely navigate. In August last year, two barges became stuck in the channel leading to Great Slave Lake.
Ontario's Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) says it is "highly concerned" to hear about yet another instance of sewage flowing straight into the Hamilton Harbour. This comes after the city of Hamilton announced Monday it learned 11 homes near Rutherford Avenue and Myrtle Avenue in Ward 3 have been flushing their wastewater straight into Lake Ontario since 1996. The exact amount of sewage is unclear.
When Kristen Villebrun heard the City of Hamilton recently discovered sewage has been flowing into the harbour for the past 26 years, she was upset. Villebrun said she and other Indigenous water walkers have complained about sewage in the water there for years. "I'm sick of talking and it falling on deaf ears,"said Villebrun, an Anishinaabe woman who is also known as Wassode nibi kwe (Shining Water Woman).
