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.
A mechanical problem at the Town of Espanola's water treatment plant has created an exposure risk for cryptosporidium, an intestinal parasite that can cause gastrointestinal symptoms through a condition called cryptosporidiosis. The Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA), which operates the plant, said it was beginning a root-cause analysis of the entire facility to figure out why the mechanical error occurred.
