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.
Chatham-Kent Public Health has lifted a boil water advisory that has been in effect for weeks following a fire at the Wheatley water treatment plant. CK Public Health lifted the advisory issued Sept. 13 on Wednesday after the organization said it received “satisfactory test results” from water samples taken on Monday and Tuesday.
With the completion of upgrades and expansion of the community’s water infrastructure, Sachigo Lake First Nation’s Chief and Council recently lifted a long-term drinking water advisory affecting over 500 community members since October 19, 2018. “Sachigo Lake First Nation and Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) have worked in partnership to invest approximately $29 million over a period of five years. Improvements to infrastructure included upgrading the existing water treatment plant, extending the community’s water distribution system, and expanding the wastewater lagoon,” a Nov. 30 news release from Indigenous Services Canada explained.
The fuel contamination of Iqaluit’s water supply left people asking a lot of questions, not least of which was — how did it get there in the first place? Answering this question was one requirement among a longer list of must-dos before the territory’s chief public health officer, Dr. Michael Patterson, would consider telling people the city’s water was safe to drink again after diesel fuel was detected in the city’s water system in October. Patterson did lift the do-not-consume water advisory on Dec. 10, nearly two months after it was imposed on Oct. 12. The original suspect was a crack in one of two underground holding tanks at Iqaluit’s water treatment plant, where water sits in chlorine before moving into a treated reservoir, called the North Clear well.
