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.
Although the grand opening of the K+S Potash Canada (KSPC) mine in Bethune was greeted with cheers from across the province in 2017, there are still plenty of reasons to celebrate as the company plans to continue increasing production at the facility over the coming decades. KSPC is targeting to one day reach four million of tonnes of potash production per year, which is double the current production from the mine.
For every tonne of potash that’s mined, another two tonnes of excess salt are brought to the surface. Expensive to transport, piles of salt grow and leach into soil over centuries. But this summer, Saskatoon-based Gensource Potash Corporation expects to start construction on a potash-producing facility in Tugaske, Sask., that’s peppered with features that are easy on the land, water and air. “We saw an opportunity to do it (potash mining) differently,” said Gensource CEO Mike Ferguson. “We’ll do it in a saleable, efficient and environmentally sustainable way.”
