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.
Residents living in Cumberland and Clarence-Rockland are taking precautionary measures, filling sandbags and preparing for the potential of flooding along the Ottawa River. Manon Lavergne is doing her best to ensure her home does not fall victim to rising flood waters. “We’re bypassing one of our underground sump pump pipes,” she said. “It actually helps when you’re not at home, at work and one of your neighbours, a nice neighbour, can look to see if your sump pump is functioning.”
The rain kept coming down as Mike Ledarney was already pumping water out of his basement in Teulon on Tuesday. The resident of the Manitoba town, about 60 kilometres north of Winnipeg, said he came home early from work after his sister called to break the news that his basement was flooding. By the time he got back, his dad had a sump pump running, but there was already about 30 centimetres of water in the basement. "It's obviously a lot of stress … having to deal with that, and not knowing always in certainty … what's going to happen next," Ledarney said outside his house later in the day.
The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board has denied an appeal from a Bridgetown church that received a hefty water bill from the Municipality of the County of Annapolis following a burst pipe that went undetected. St. James Anglican Church received a water bill of $5,485 this spring after a pipe burst while the church was shut down in the winter due to COVID-19.
It came as a major shock when the executive of St. James Anglican Church in Bridgetown, N.S., got their most recent water and sewer bill from the Municipality of Annapolis. The three-month bill came to a whopping $5,485.31. The church was closed due to COVID-19 from Dec. 21 until early February, according to David Skidmore, the chair of the church's property committee. During that time, a pipe froze and broke, leaking water into the basement.
