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.
Canadian electricity generation company TransAlta has agreed to acquire a 50% interest in an early-stage 320MW pumped-hydro energy storage project in Canada. The Tent Mountain Renewable Energy Complex is located in south-west Alberta and is currently owned by Montem Resources. TransAlta will pay Montem around $8m upon completion of the deal, as well as up to $17m if certain development and commercial ‘milestones’ are met.
Canada Geese have been hanging around Portage at a particular spot on Crescent Lake recently. It seems to be due to the provision of open water caused by, of all things, the construction going on on 18th St SW. Water is being pumped from storm drains on the street into the lake, keeping the ice from building up around that location. A hose is running beneath some compacted fill on Crescent Road over to the Lake area.
“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”
Victoria and surrounding municipalities are no longer dumping untreated sewage into the ocean — much to the delight of our neighbours south of the border. Washington state Governor Jay Inslee, who has a house on Bainbridge Island, is among those welcoming news that, after four years of construction, the Capital Regional District’s $775-million Wastewater Treatment Project has begun treating sewage at the McLoughlin Point plant.
