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 City of Iqaluit has awarded Tower Arctic Ltd. an $800,000 contract to clean three contaminated underground water tanks at the city’s water treatment plant. City councillors voted unanimously during Tuesday’s council meeting to hire the company to remediate the North and South Clear wells and the mixing chamber at the plant. The tanks were contaminated by fuel last fall and winter. Tower Arctic Ltd. had the lowest of three bids, the highest coming in at nearly $6 million.
