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.
The local service district for Mainland, on Newfoundland's Port au Port Peninsula, has shut off its water supply, claiming it's undrinkable, and blaming the development of a wind energy project in the area. Dwight Cornect, director of the local service district, says LeCointre's Brook, the community's secondary water source, is discoloured. "The water is brown," Cornect said Thursday. He said he doesn't accept the government's assurances that the water has been tested and has no issues.
