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.
Residents are warned to stay away from rivers and streams as parts of the North Shore, Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast are currently under a flood watch, while Metro Vancouver remains under a rainfall warning. Environment Canada said 75 to 150 millimetres of rain is expected to fall between Friday and Sunday morning, causing rivers and streams to rise very quickly.
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.
The results of water quality testing in Iqaluit showed "exceedingly high concentrations of various fuel components" in one of the city's water tanks, the city's chief administrative officer said Friday at a news conference, as residents learned their water supply will remain undrinkable until at least mid-next week. While officials said the water could contain diesel or kerosene the territory's top doctor doesn't see long-term health concerns for those who drank the water.
Preliminary research on P.E.I. farms shows that irrigating potatoes helps the plants better use nitrogen in fertilizer, so it doesn't end up leaching into the environment. The research by the Living Lab Project — a partnership of Agriculture Canada, the East Prince Agri-Environment Association and the P.E.I. Department of Agriculture — is in its third year. Provincial soil and water conservation engineer Tobin Stetson said the early field trial results are replicating results from previous federal research farm testing.
When Canadians are asked about five specific ideas and goals related to the relationship with First Nations, our focus turns towards the present. More than four in five Canadians say it is important to end long-term drinking water advisories in First Nations communities (89%) and to take steps to end bias against Indigenous Canadians in the justice system (86%). Taking steps to ensure that all Canadians have access to clean water and that no group is disproportionately targeted and punished by the justice system are goals that Canadians of all political stripes are willing to get behind. It would be unwise for leaders and parliamentarians to become summarily contrarian.
Atmospheric rivers are like rivers in the sky, which transport large amounts of water vapour from the equator northward. CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe said the weather system will be bringing a long episode of heavy rain to the South Coast. "The atmospheric river is hitting the South Coast through Friday and into the weekend, basically a plume of moisture, bringing all of that rain from the western Pacific and it will feel like we are at the end of a fire hose aimed right at the South Coast," explained Wagstaffe.
At least 35 cases of ready-to-drink baby formula will soon be on the way to Iqaluit after an Ottawa woman arranged with Arctic Co-operatives Ltd. to get the product on a flight Friday. Claudine Santos is the director of parliamentary affairs to Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson. She is also the president and co-founder of VIO Volunteers, a non-profit organization that was formed during the pandemic to support northern remote Indigenous communities get access to PPE and other emergency products.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) is picking a side when it comes to water fluoridation in the city. The question will be on municipal ballots come Monday, and in a release, AHS says to vote yes. Dr. Rafael Figueiredo, the Provincial Dental Public Health Officer and Dr. Nick Etches, the Acting Zone Lead Medical Officer of Health for the Calgary Zone put out a release indicating AHS’ support. “AHS endorses community water fluoridation as a foundational public health measure to prevent tooth decay, improve oral health and reduce inequities within communities,” AHS said.
Back in the U.S., Michigan officials have warned residents in the city of Benton Harbor not to use tap water for drinking, cooking or brushing their teeth due to lead contamination. The city’s tap water was found to contain lead levels up to 60 times the federal limit as early as 2018. That’s higher than the contamination of Flint’s tap during its water crisis. Advocates are calling for officials to declare a state of emergency and for the EPA to intervene. The population of Benton Harbor is 85% Black, and nearly half of its residents are poor.
Blue-green algae blooms in parts of Lake of the Woods can change the appearance of the water and these blooms have the potential to cause some harm to pets or people who choose to take a drink or a swim. Blue-green algae blooms are common in parts of the lake, which straddles Ontario, Manitoba and Minnesota. However, they are generally not seen late in the year or in some of the locations they are now being found. As well, the blooms can be toxic.
Hamilton city councillors say Alectra Utilities has blindsided them after the massive utility says it's too busy to continue delivering local water bills. The utility, which formed in 2017 when Horizon Utilities merged with four others, says it has too large an area to cover and too much to do to keep handling water billing, city staff said last week. So, even though Hamilton will pay Alectra $5.6 million this year to deliver water bills, Alectra says it can't do it after the contract expires in December 2024.
Bimose Tribal Council in northwestern Ontario and Canadian charity Water First are pleased to announce that on Friday, 11 interns of their drinking water internship program for young Indigenous adults have graduated. Of the cohort, 91% are now water operators in training (OIT), having earned their OIT certification. Graduates of the internship program are from ten participating First Nations communities across the Bimose Tribal Council region, and are supporting their communities to ensure clean drinking water.
Did you know there are more people in India with access to a cellphone than a toilet? Or that burning the world’s annual human waste output could yield the equivalent of $9.5 billion in non-renewable natural gas? Or that, every day, about 2,020 hectares of irrigated land worldwide becomes unfarmable because of salty soil? These findings, on water scarcity and environmental health, are considered groundbreaking in the scientific community. They also offer a snapshot into the extensive resumé of a Hamilton-based think-tank.
The City of Iqaluit is investigating concerns from residents about reports of a fuel odour in drinking water. In a news release sent over the weekend, the city said it continues to investigate, test and monitor the drinking water daily. There has been no water quality advisory issued for now, and drinking water testing to date is satisfactory, the release says.
For many of us, drinking water from the tap, taking a shower or flushing a toilet are things that are taken for granted. However, residents of the Cheekye, or Cheakamus 11, reserve say they are sometimes left wondering when and if those necessities are available to them. Those who live on that reserve say that their water infrastructure cuts out, leaving them dry and without any means to perform basic functions. When it does work, they say, it supplies them with water they don't trust.
A $1 device developed at Dalhousie University in Halifax that can help detect COVID-19 in wastewater has been shipped across Canada and around the world to help researchers and public health in the battle against the deadly respiratory illness. The device is a small, spherical cage that contains an absorbent pad to collect samples from sewer systems. The specimens are then analyzed using lab equipment to determine whether COVID-19 is present in the wastewater.
A coalition of environmental activists called on President Joe Biden to weigh in on the ongoing fight to decommission Line 5, Canadian oil company Enbridge's aging oil and gas pipeline in Michigan's Great Lakes. The coalition, which includes groups like Clean Water Action, Oil and Water Don't Mix, the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, and the National Wildlife Federation, says it delivered more than 33,000 petition signatures to U.S. Sen. Gary Peters requesting that he pass them on to Biden. The coalition says they also plan on delivering the signatures to U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and the White House.
Twenty-three-year-old PhD student Emalie Hayes is currently studying Civil Engineering at Dalhousie University. Last year, she created a COVID-19 testing device that can detect the virus through sewers. The COVID-19 sewer cage, called the Cosca, is made by a 3D printer out of plastic, which takes several hours to print, and is then assembled by hand, which takes less than a minute.
A state of emergency has been declared in Iqaluit after city staff found evidence of fuel contamination in the city's treated water supply. The water is unsafe to drink, even if filtered or boiled, according to the municipality. In an interview with Nunatsiaq News Tuesday, Mayor Kenny Bell said every part of town was affected, whether water is delivered by pipes or by trucks. "It's everything. Any treated water," he told the paper.
Most Saint Johners likely never give Marsh Creek a second thought. The stream winds its way across much of the east side of the city, starting at the far eastern end of city limits, and emptying into Courtenay Bay, a linear distance of about seven kilometres. The creek is a nearly invisible refuge for local wildlife, and few people have ever visited its banks on the marshlands that make up a good portion of east Saint John.
