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Latest news about the Safe Drinking Water Team
A trial began in Burton on Tuesday for a man accused of criminal negligence in the 2018 drowning death of a Fredericton teen, during a construction project at Fredericton's main wastewater treatment plant. Jason King was a supervisor for Springhill Construction, which is also facing charges, when Michael Henderson, 18, died at a sewage treatment plant on Barker Street.
The Atlantic First Nations Water Authority has signed a transfer agreement with Indigenous Services Canada to take over water and wastewater management in 17 First Nations in the region. The communities will still need a ratifying vote to officially come aboard but Chief Ross Perley of Neqotkuk, a Wolastoqey community 120 kilometres northwest of Fredericton, said the agreement signed Nov. 7 in Halifax represents much-needed empowerment for First Nations.
Today, Jenica Atwin, Member of Parliament for Fredericton, on behalf of the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, and Gabriel Atwin, Chief of Kingsclear First Nation, announced federal funding for further development of the Southside Subdivision in Kingsclear First Nation. This funding will allow for Phase 5 of the Southside Subdivision to move forward. It will involve clearing a wooded area to continue the construction of Muwin Crescent and extending the existing municipal water, sanitary sewer, and roadway for the development of an additional 28 building lots. Once complete, this project will provide residents access to both reliable water and wastewater infrastructure and support further residential development in the community.
Cecelia Brooks remembers a time when the deep forest of New Brunswick was so cold, snow could still be found in its depths in August. That rarely happens anymore, says Brooks, a traditional knowledge keeper with Wolastoqey, Mi'kmaw, Mohawk and Korean bloodlines who has been foraging and harvesting foods and medicines all of her life. These days, Brooks says, plants like the mayflower will come up, "you'll see the buds … then all of a sudden they get hit by that heat and it shrivels."
