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.
If the developer's proposal is approved, residents say they're worried the required deep drilling and excavation could leave their water undrinkable. It's a problem homeowners said they've watched emerge over decades of routine testing. "We seem to be in a kind of Groundhog Day scenario as each development comes up," said Al Crosby, who has lived in Fairhaven since 1978.
“Each time there’s construction, there’s contamination,” said Crosby, pointing to projects like the Montfort’s expanded parking garage or the new Shepherds of Good Hope building. He counts perhaps 10 spikes in the past 15 years, leading to a need to “shock” his water system with cleansing chemicals. “We shocked it so often that it corroded the fittings on the pressure tank.” Over the years, there have been vibrations strong enough to rattle dishes and knock a connecting pipe off the septic system. “This has always been a concern,” said Parent, a retired public servant. “It raises the spectre of our wells drying out. With all this development, the danger becomes increasingly more serious.”
