"They did find that we should be filtering our water in the schools," she said, adding that the band office has agreed to carry out further tests. Roy said the quality of the water source, Mistissini Lake, is very, very good, but down the line in the school the water quality drops noticeably. The students also studied four different types of filtering options, including some traditional methods, such as using moss or a heavy cotton, as well as modern charcoal filters. In their evaluation, the students also took into account cost and environmental impacts of the different filtration methods.
Former Neskantaga contractor accused of cutting corners in other First Nations
“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”