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 Canadian mining company is responsible for selenium pollution entering North Idaho waters. Teck Resources is a mining company in British Columbia. Waste rock from four of their mines have been leaching selenium into the Kootenai River Watershed since the early 1980s. Selenium is toxic at high levels. Since 2017, the population of westslope cutthroat trout in this watershed has decreased by 93% because of selenium pollution.
In the larger scale, the watershed feeds 43 per cent of irrigated land, and provides water for 2 million people. The effect of mining on this area, and all downstream users, would be detrimental. The water runs all the way to Hudson Bay, and as Smith notes, “it’s not something that should be toyed with.” A lawyer involved in the challenge firmly believes that the Kenney government has broken the law. It impacts more than just ranchers, it will affect all of southern Alberta and the users of water from this watershed. The best case scenario for the challenge is that the Coal Policy will be reinstated and open-pit mountain top removal coal mining stopped.
