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.
It stains laundry, corrodes pipes and looks terrible. The water that people in Black Tickle use for bathing and doing laundry is treated with chlorine but it remains dark and muddy because of high iron content. "It's almost like either coffee or Coke," resident Sheldon Morris said, "and it stains everything, and that's the worst."