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.
Beatrice Silver was in the middle of cataloguing the health impacts caused by industrial pollution in her community with her neighbour, Clarence Williams, when Williams’ health declined and he passed away. Williams was in his late 50s, and Silver says his death is connected to the job he previously held at Westlake Pipe and Fitting facility, which makes polyvinyl chloride, or PVC pipes. The factory is located in the middle of Upper Sumas 6 reserve.
At last report, the Ohio Emergency Management Agency had declared that successful containment of the spilled chemicals meant no further derailment-related die-offs were expected, and that “live fish were returning to Leslie Run,” the nearest small waterway. But local residents remain concerned about the health of waterways. Many worry that toxins may have settled into sediments, posing a persistent danger to benthic organisms (plants and animals at the bottom of the waterway). Those toxins are ready to be released at the slightest disturbance—as simple as a dog chasing a stick, or a wading child.
