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.
Floating, rock-like masses formed of fat, grease and trash like wet wipes and diapers — researchers found more than 100 of these "fatbergs" along the docks of Toronto Harbour last year. Despite the stench, it's a celebratory feat. That's because since the research team's launch in the summer of 2019, keeping tabs on this form of pollution remained just out of reach.
A Lakehead University researcher says it won't be long before data on the amount of plastic in the water at the Thunder Bay harbour can be compared to other areas on the Great Lakes. The northwestern Ontario city currently has one Seabin — designed to collect samples of plastic waste in water — located in the water at Marina Park, which was installed and is cleaned out by city staff.
