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 trial began in Burton on Tuesday for a man accused of criminal negligence in the 2018 drowning death of a Fredericton teen, during a construction project at Fredericton's main wastewater treatment plant. Jason King was a supervisor for Springhill Construction, which is also facing charges, when Michael Henderson, 18, died at a sewage treatment plant on Barker Street.
Contractors might have to show an interest in hiring under-represented workers from Manitoba's construction industry if they want to get in on the $552 million upgrade to the North End sewage plant. Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) tabled a motion at the city's water and waste committee Wednesday that would require any companies bidding on the project's future tenders to give specific information on plans to hire and train Indigenous workers and people from other under-represented groups in Manitoba.
The provincial government wants the City of Winnipeg to explore expanding and operating the North End Sewage Treatment Plant through a public-private partnership that would privatize the city's entire treatment system, the director of the water and waste department says. Moira Geer's report to members of the city's executive policy committee says the Progressive Conservative government has directed the city to engage a consultant for an "analysis of the feasibility of a public-private partnership (P3) procurement methodology" for the sewage plant's biosolids and nutrient removal facilities.
