IN THE NEWS – 12/3
Daily water news roundup
Canadian Government funds First Nations geothermal project in Northwest Territories
ADK Holdings, the economic development corporation of the Acho Dene Koe First Nation, has received $2 million in funding from the federal government for its Geothermal Energy Development Project in the Fort Liard area of the Northwest Territories.
The project aims to support the transition of local Indigenous communities to renewable energy sources by identifying opportunities for geothermal resource development. It also supports the creation of jobs and positive economic development and reduce the use of diesel-sourced heating in the area.
Funding will be provided through the federal government’s Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities (CERRC) program, which contributes funding to projects that will reduce reliance on fossil fuels for energy and heating in Indigenous, rural and remote communities. (HPAC)
B.C. tailings ponds mapping encourages critical mineral recovery, clean up
A short drive from the community of Ymir, south of Nelson, the tailings were abandoned after two nearby mines stopped operating in the 1940s. But the land remains polluted — a 2009 report found arsenic, cadmium, lead and zinc in the soil.
Inactive tailings ponds are where mining companies dumped and left their waste. The Ministry for Mining and Critical Minerals says there are approximately 140 such sites that it knows about across B.C.
Geoscience BC, a non-profit organization that researches critical mineral and water issues, has started a program that will create a visual inventory of every tailings pond in the province. The map will be publicly available to search for locations, site history, what minerals were extracted, and which First Nations hold relevant land rights.
Once the map is completed, work will begin on assessing whether any critical minerals such as lithium or cobalt exist at the sites, how they could be extracted and the sites remediated. (Oak Bay News)
B.C. First Nation uncovers 3rd toxic spill in Hope Slough in 2 months
Industrial waste has been billowing from a ditch into the fish-bearing Hope Slough in Chilliwack, according to Cheam First Nation.
"This is the third toxic Hope Slough spill in the past two months," said Roxanna Kooistra, Cheam Enterprises project manager.
A dead salmon was found on Dec. 2 with eggs still inside, which is evidence that the fish are dying before reaching their spawning grounds, she said.
Ongoing monitoring efforts by technicians and biologists from the Healthy Waters initiative led to this latest pollution incident being discovered at the end of November, coming from the Chapman ditch and flowing into the slough.
Cheam staff and land guardians found a pipe spewing what they believe is industrial waste from a ditch, which feeds into the nearby fish habitat of the slough.
The trail of milky-coloured liquid can be seen swirling for several kilometres downstream in drone footage.
The water coming out of the ditch into the slough is "extremely polluted," the biologist said, adding it smells like a mixture of sewage and chemicals.
Blue-green algae and fecal bacteria-related advisories rescinded for numerous Alberta lakes
Alberta Health Services has lifted a number of health advisories for lakes in the province.
Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) advisories can be now be removed due to cooler temperatures in lakes and reservoirs.
List of lakes with rescinded cyanobacteria advisories:
- Pigeon Lake, Little Fish Lake, Wizard Lake, Clear Lake, Buck Lake, Islet Lake, Astotin Lake, Baptiste Lake, Bonnie Lake, Goose Lake, Gregoire (Willow) Lake, Iosegun Lake, Isle Lake, Kehiwin Lake, Lac La Biche, Lac La Nonne Lac Ste. Anne, Lessard Lake, Lesser Slave Lake, Matchayaw (Devil’s) Lake, Moonshine Lake, Moose Lake, Paddle River Reservoir, Skeleton Lake, Stoney Lake, Sturgeon Lake, Thunder Lake, Winagami Lake, Garner Lake
List of lakes with rescinded fecal bacteria-related water quality advisories:
- Golden Sands Beach, McGrane Beach and Plamondon White Sands Beach (Lac La Biche Lake), Alberta Beach and Sunset Point Beach (Lac Ste. Anne), Young’s Point Provincial Park beach area (Sturgeon Lake), Iosegun Lake Beach (Iosegun Lake), Calling Lake Provincial Park Beach and MacFarlane Beach (Calling Lake)
(rdnewsNOW)
The City of Hamilton faces provincial charges over two sewage spills that began decades ago.
The spills began in 1996 and were discovered and stopped in 2022 and 2023
The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Parks charged the city with two counts of discharging sanitary sewage in water.
An estimated 337 million litres of sewage flowed into Hamilton Harbour over the course of 26 years — the waste originating from 50 nearby properties. The city spent close to $30 million filling in a hole that was the source of the leak.
After that discovery, the city launched a pilot program to preemptively check cross-connected pipe sections across Hamilton and stop sewage from leaking into the environment and waterways.
It led to the city finding another spill near Rutherford Avenue and Myrtle Avenue in January 2023 that dated back to 1996, which prompted the second charge from the ministry.
In that case, 59 million litres of sewage flowed from 11 homes straight into Lake Ontario. It cost the city $37.5 million to repair. (CBC)
