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 Town of Bashaw town council wouldn’t approve a revised 2022 budget from the Hwy. #12/21 Water Commission and instead requested representatives to attend council with information. The decision was made at the Dec. 20 regular meeting. Town Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Theresa Fuller provided councillors with a report on the Hwy. #12/21 Water Commission’s revised budget, the original version of which called for no rate increases in 2022.
The contract to build the new wastewater treatment plant in North Vancouver, B.C., will be terminated, according to the regional district in charge of the project, but the building company says it's still working on it. The head of the Metro Vancouver Regional District says it lost confidence in Acciona, the contractor company, after long construction delays and a rising price tag. Jerry Dobrovolny, chief administrative officer for the regional district, says the cost has risen double the original estimate of $500 million.
Two major City of Winnipeg waste projects have blown past their budgets as the pandemic affects bidding and a contractor struggles to meet deadlines, according to a briefing presented to the city's finance committee on Tuesday. The city is conducting a massive upgrade of its sewage treatment system to meet the requirements of its licence under the province's Environment Act and reduce the outflow of nutrients into Lake Winnipeg. Upgrades to Winnipeg's South End sewage treatment plant have fallen behind schedule, prompting the water and waste department to estimate additional costs of $16.5 million. The total cost for the expansion and upgrades to the plant is now pegged at $335.6 million.
Rebecca Zagozewski, executive director of the Saskatchewan First Nations Water Association, said she has seen contractors save on costs when building water treatment plants on reserves by using obsolete parts and failing to include maintenance manuals, ventilation or chemical rooms, and bathrooms. “Engineering companies will put in their bids obviously as low as they can go,” said Zagozewski.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared to walk back his government’s promise to end all water-boil advisories in First Nations communities by March 2021. Pressed by reporters Friday, Trudeau wouldn’t commit to meeting the 2021 deadline and said the federal government was working to lift the remaining drinking water advisories “as soon as possible.”
