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.
More than a third of the City of Richmond’s pipes delivering drinking water to its residents are made of cement containing asbestos. The statistic came to light last week on CTV’s W5 investigation show, with Richmond having the ninth-highest percentage of asbestos cement pipes - compared to its entire network - among the 100 cities contacted nationwide.