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.
For discharge, spills, and waste, river currents carry these pollutants downstream. While sometimes diluted, the pollutants barely break down and begin to fill banks and sediment. It disrupts river ecosystems and lessens the quality of potable water in the Canadian wilderness. Furthermore, the spills that happen include toxic chemicals that natural processes can’t break down. This results in a complete loss of habitat for many aquatic animals.
Aging infrastructure, climate change and population growth are putting significant pressure on Montreal’s water resources. Faced with the magnitude of the issues and planned investments, the city is launching a public consultation on the future of water in its territory. Montreal is wasting too much drinking water, it is dumping too many pollutants into the St. Lawrence River, its aging infrastructure is unable to swallow the ever-increasing quantity of water spilled during torrential rains, and the city does not have enough money to update and adapt its infrastructure related to water management.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) are working together to conserve one of the largest remaining tracts of intact Prairie grasslands and wetlands in Canada. McIntyre Ranch, located south of Lethbridge, will be conserved through an agreement (conservation easement) between the landowners and the two organizations. This 130-year-old ranch is one of the largest private landholdings in Canada, and spans over 22,000 hectares — an area more than a quarter the size of Calgary.
The US government has proposed its first-ever restrictions on six harmful chemicals found in drinking water. Research has suggested over 200 million Americans likely drink water contaminated with PFAS chemicals, which have been linked to a host of health issues, including cancer. But up until now, the pollutants have only been regulated by some US states. The US on Tuesday issued a rule that would require communities to test and treat water for six of the chemicals.
Our most valuable resource is water, which we frequently take for granted. World Water Day is observed on March 22, and this year’s message is about change; it encourages us to change how we use, consume and manage water in our daily lives. There are several steps that homeowners can take to ensure their water is safe for their homes and consumption. I always recommend homeowners get their water tested, no matter where they live, but particularly outside urban centres or if they rely on a well source.
Or consider how climate change is also melting ice and glaciers in the Arctic. For Inuit, this means that the traditional way of life is being disrupted and destroyed. That same ice melt is also raising water levels, endangering coastal communities and island nations. Tuvalu, for example, is building a digital version of its country to preserve its history, culture and language. If things continue on this course, there is a good chance the nation will be submerged by the end of the century.
Last summer, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration observed dust blowing 85 miles from its source: Lake Abert and Summer Lake, two dried-up saline lakes in southern Oregon. This has happened before: Saline lakebeds are some of the West’s most significant sources of dust. California's Owens Lake is the nation's largest source of PM10, the tiny pollutants found in dust and smoke, while plumes blowing off the 800 square miles of the Great Salt Lake’s exposed bed have caused toxin-filled dust storms in Salt Lake City.
A chemical used in the production of toilet paper and 'forever chemicals' have been found in the bodies of orcas in B.C. , including the endangered southern resident killer whales. The Institute for the Ocean and Fisheries at UBC, British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientists analyzed tissue samples from six southern resident killer whales and six Bigg’s whales stranded along the coast of B.C. from 2006 to 2018, according to a recent study. They discovered that chemical pollutants are prevalent in killer whales, with a chemical often found in toilet paper one of the most prevalent in the samples studied, accounting for 46 per cent of the total pollutants identified.
A study measuring the quality of water in the Grand River found the majority of pollutants are coming from municipalities upstream and are concentrated around Fairchild Creek. Pesticides, e-coli, and human waste by-products are all present in the Grand River but the state of the art treatment plant in Ohsweken is filtering most of that out, according to one of the study authors, Marsha Serville-Tertullien, from Trent University. She recommended Six Nations tell municipalities up stream to clean up their act in order to reduce potential contaminants in Six Nations’ drinking water.
Any water from inside the ship is considered contaminated, so it is getting pumped directly into trucks and taken away by a specialized company to be disposed of properly, said Cormier. “There has not been any release of pollutants into the water or on land,” said Cormier, “But as an abundance of precaution, we have a response organization that is providing containment around the vessel and also containment along the shoreline to habitat, marsh area, to the west of the terminal.” The Canadian Coast Guard environmental response team is still on site, he said. “Our activities we basically discuss and submit plans on what we are doing so that the priority of environmental protection is taken care of,” said Cormier. “So, we always consult with them.”
A campaign that was launched in December has started to gain steam, and the aim is to make people “give a f*ck” about Indigenous communities that don’t have clean drinking water. The censored version of the campaign is called “It’s Effing Water,” and it was started by social impact agency Public. The campaign suggests that there are nearly 70 Indigenous communities that are still without clean drinking water, and a petition to try and elevate the issue at a national level has gained almost 50,000 signatures.
The Environmental Protection Agency will move forward with environmental review of several water infrastructure projects intended to address transborder water pollution from the Tijuana River, it was announced Monday. “In order to protect public health and vital ecosystems in this vibrant area, we need a bold solution to the transboundary water pollution challenge,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox.
As Teck Resources hopes to expand its mountaintop-removal coal mining in British Columbia, water quality monitors in Canada and the United States warn the company’s existing mines already cause significant ecological damage. In 2019, the company’s own research revealed that more than 90% of the cutthroat trout population had vanished in a 60-kilometer (37-mile) reach of the Upper Fording River near its mines around Sparwood, British Columbia. On March 26, Teck pleaded guilty to two counts of illegally discharging selenium and other pollutants into the watershed and paid a $60 million fine — the largest of its kind in Canadian history.
A Travellers Rest business has taken responsibility for a recent wastewater spill and is working to make sure it never happens again. The spill was noticed on Dec. 27, when Chris Wall, who lives in the adjacent community of New Annan, saw that the stream on his property was filled with smelly, grey water. “Seventy-five feet from the brook, I could smell the potato leachate,” said Wall, whose property is more than a kilometre from P.E.I. Potato Solutions, which has offered washing and sorting services to farmers across the Island since 2014. Wall snapped photos showing what he described as an unusual, thick, grey cloud of material in the stream, a tributary to the Barbara Weit River. He immediately suspected the wash plant and went directly to the culvert that exits the property, where he photographed dirty water flowing off-site. Wall reported what he saw to the Department of Environment.
