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 severe storm which hit Toronto almost 20 years ago causing major property damage is the driver of a massive infrastructure project. Designed by CH2M Hill Canada Ltd (now Jacobs), the $400-million Fairbank Silverthorn Storm Trunk Sewer project is an undertaking which took years of planning and design, required shipping a tunnel boring machine from France, and is only about the half-way point of approximately six years of construction.
"We need to be sure that used nuclear fuel can be safely contained in the rock to ensure water, people and the environment are safe," said Sarah Hirschorn, Director of Geoscience at the NWMO. "This work will support greater understanding of geological characterization so that local communities are informed as they consider what will be one of the largest environmental infrastructure programs in Canadian history."
A historic tunnel excavation has been completed on the Second Narrows Water Supply Tunnel in Vancouver. The infrastructure project aims to make the region’s drinking water system more earthquake resilient and help meet growing demand for safe drinking water. “The tunnel underneath the Burrard Inlet was excavated with the first slurry tunnel boring machine to be used in Canada, and the work was being done up to 100 metres underground,” said Sav Dhaliwal, chair of Metro Vancouver’s board of directors, in a statement. “Completing this tunnel is an important milestone in this project and a remarkable testament to the innovation that is being used in Metro Vancouver to bring clean drinking water from the North Shore to the rest of the region.”
