Water taps run dry at Constance Lake First Nation. Why?

NEWS RELEASE

CONSTANCE LAKE FIRST NATION

**************************** Taps still running dry in Constance Lake First Nation

Community members show signs of infection but can’t prove it is related to supplied water

The Constance Lake First Nation leadership is demanding that the amount of bottled drinking water being supplied to the community during its current water crisis be increased.

As of November 15, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) reduced the amount of bottled water supplied from four litres per person, per day, to 1.5 litres, and to date, the amount remains the same.

For almost five months the community of Constance Lake First Nation has been without a permanent water supply, relying on water being trucked into the community.

The membership is currently surviving on 1.5 litres of bottled water per person per day, despite the fact that doctors recommend that a healthy adult should consume 2.2 litres of water per day.

This recommended amount also doesn’t include those who are active, have poor health conditions or pregnant women.

Two hundred and twenty five cubic metres of water is being brought into the community from the local Capital Power co-generation plant on a daily basis for bathing, toilets, laundry and dish washing.

The water is then chlorinated at the Constance Lake First Nation water treatment plant before being distributed.

A boil water advisory has to remain in place as the quality of water arriving from the co-generation plant is uncertain at this time and can not be assessed by Constance Lake First Nation.

Chief Arthur Moore says: “I am calling on the government to take responsibility and ensure that our community has enough drinking water. Right now, my people are not even receiving enough for basic health maintenance. INAC has failed to accept accountability for our people, leaving the crisis and the rising costs to the First Nation.”

Over the past couple of weeks, Constance Lake First Nation has also experienced an increase in the amount of patients going to the health clinic showing similar symptoms: namely rashes and nail fungal infections.

Although there is no proof that these symptoms stem from water being distributed in the community, many in the First Nation believe that they are related.

Chief Moore continues: “My community has been without clean water for months. We need a long-term solution to resolve this crisis. People don’t have enough water for drinking and the water provided for bathing could possibly be causing infection.”

Constance Lake First Nation declared a state of emergency in July of 2010, as a thick layer of algae formed over the lake that was used as the main water supply for the community.

The Constance Lake First Nation water treatment plant that is old and outdated is unable to filter the blue-green algae. Currently a well is being dug that will provide water to the community; it is expected to be finished in January 2011.

Chief Moore says: “The well doesn’t even accommodate the whole community and will eventually dry up... and then what? This is just a temporary fix to a long-term problem that is not going to disappear.”

Upgrades to the water treatment plant will be required to connect the well for water distribution.

The community is looking to secure funding to not only conduct a scientific study to determine suitability of the lake as a future water source, but also replace the water plant, that is broken down and obsolete as it was constructed in the late 1970s.

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