LIVE B.C. seeks ban on using drugs in 'all public spaces,' shifting approach to decriminalization
The B.C. government is moving to have drug use banned in "all public spaces," marking a major shift in the province's approach to decriminalization.
The City of Iqaluit says testing shows a high concentration of fuel in a tank that supplies water to the Nunavut capital, but long-term health effects are not a concern.
Officials at a news conference Friday said the fuel could be diesel or kerosene.
"The results of water quality testing showed exceedingly high concentrations of various fuel components in the sample collected from that tank," said Amy Elgersma, the city's chief administrative officer.
Residents of the community of 8,000 people were told Tuesday not to drink tap water after it was discovered it may be contaminated by fuel.
The Nunavut government has been flying in shipments of potable water, while many residents have collected fresh water from a nearby river.
Elgersma said the city has isolated and bypassed the contaminated tank, and its water is being pumped out into trucks and transferred to holding tanks so it can be treated.
Once the tank is emptied, the city will conduct an investigation to determine how contaminants entered it, she said.
Water in the city's treated reservoir, which is downstream from the treatment plant and is the last point before water delivery, showed levels "well within health limits," Elgersma said.
"This part is very good news."
The city is also flushing its water distribution system to remove contaminants. The process is to continue for another 48 hours, then residents will get instructions to flush their home pipes by running their water for 20 minutes.
Iqaluit's hospital, the only one in the territory, will only be doing emergency surgeries for now, over concerns about sterilizing tools with contaminated water. One-time-use instruments are to be utilized as much as possible.
In addition, the city is doing an environmental assessment around the water treatment plant to look for possible contaminants in the soil.
The cause of the fuel contamination has not yet been determined.
Nunavut's chief public health officer, Dr. Michael Patterson, said whatever the cause is, it didn't happen naturally.
"It could be an old spill that's been liberated with (thawing) permafrost. It could be damage to the infrastructure … there's a number of things. But it's not natural," he said.
Patterson also said there does not seem to be any health risks to Iqaluit residents who drank contaminated tap water.
"The best evidence we have available right now is the risk of long-term health effects is not a concern at this point," he said.
Residents who consumed "heavily contaminated water" may have had headaches, diarrhea and upset stomachs, he said.
Carcinogens were not found in the water, he added.
Residents may be able to start drinking tap water again in the middle of next week, Patterson said, depending on more test results.
Some residents had reported smelling fuel in their water last week, but city officials said regular testing came back clear.
Elgersma said the city sent water samples away on Oct. 4. but city staff didn't have proper testing kits and the lab in Southern Canada told them to send samples in other testing bottles.
"These samples likely lost potency during transport ... the city the next day ordered specialized kits," she said.
Testing and monitoring is to continue over the next several months, she added.
The road to the Sylvia Grinnell River will be closed for maintenance for up to 12 hours starting Saturday afternoon. The Nunavut government said in a statement the work needs to be done so city water trucks can continue to use the road.
The dirt road is "too rough" for the water trucks and needs to be worked on during the day before frost sets it, the statement said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2021.
------
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
The B.C. government is moving to have drug use banned in "all public spaces," marking a major shift in the province's approach to decriminalization.
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
The current overall public health risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus is low, the World Health Organization said on Friday, but urged countries to stay alert for cases of animal-to-human transmission.
An idyllic 453-acre private island is up for sale off the west coast of Scotland and it comes with sandy beaches, puffins galore, seven houses, a pub, a helipad and a flock of black-faced sheep.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.