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.
Various levels of government have announced $10.5 million in joint funding for two wastewater and stormwater projects in the Canning region of Nova Scotia. The first project will support wastewater treatment and collection system upgrades in the Municipality of the County of Kings where the wastewater treatment facility will be improved to increase capacity and accommodate future growth, a Dec. 22 release explained.
To comply with updated Canadian environmental effluent water-quality requirements, the city of Lloydminster is in the process of building a new wastewater treatment facility. The project is now (fall 2022) more than two-thirds complete. Terry Burton, Lloydminster’s director of planning and engineering, says the new facility will be commissioned in late 2023 and is expected to be fully operational by December 2023. The city of 31,000, which straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, constructed the original facility in 1983.
Two communities in southern Saskatchewan officially cut the ribbon Tuesday on a new $3.3-million wastewater treatment facility that is being touted as eco-responsible and award-winning. The facility will serve businesses and about 300 people in Lebret, and another 126 people in Wa-Pii Moos-Toosis on Star Blanket Cree Nation, according to a release.
Untreated wastewater and stormwater are no longer flowing untreated into Halifax harbour three days after a pump failed at Halifax Water's Duffus Street pump station. The pump began operating again at 4 p.m. Friday and was monitored overnight, Halifax Water said in a media release Saturday. Wastewater and stormwater are now being pumped from the station to the wastewater treatment facility on Upper Water Street.
Residents of Whycocomagh and We’koqma’q First Nation in Inverness County will have their wastewater infrastructure replaced thanks to a $5.87 million investment from the three levels of government and in partnership with the First Nation. “The province is pleased to be working with the federal government, the municipality and the First Nation to fund this much-needed wastewater treatment facility,” said Municipal Affairs Minister Brendan Maguire. “Due to the age and condition of the current facility, the system is a priority for replacement. The new facility will help keep Whycocomagh safe, healthy and environmentally sustainable for many years to come.”
St. John's Mayor Danny Breen says the city is facing a wastewater problem that will cost tens of millions of dollars to fix — and he wants more time from the federal government to do it. Changes to federal government regulations in 2014 required cities to test the levels of suspended solids and chemical biological oxygen demand — essentially, the amount of oxygen needed for organic material to be broken down in water. The levels found in St. John's mean the city has to build a secondary treatment facility by the end of 2020, which Breen said will cost the city about $85 million to build.
