(file photo/meadowlakeNOW Staff)

By Tyler Marr

GOOD FROM THE BAD

Flying Dust First Nation receives funding for water research and restoration project

Jul 11, 2019 | 2:01 PM

Flying Dust First Nation has received funding to monitor and improve the water quality of nearby Meadow Lake and the Meadow River.

The $150,000 for the project comes from the federal government’s environmental damages fund, which is administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada.

The fund, which was created in 1995, receives money through environmental fines, court orders and voluntary payments to carry out beneficial environmental programs in communities across the country.

“It is based on the polluter pays principle,” Cherie Young, the fund’s national policy manager, said. “It is built on the premise that environmental good must follow environment harm.”

Flying Dust wants to gain a better understanding of the watersheds on its territory and decrease sedimentation by restoring habitat for fish, birds and other species in and around the river system.

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Activities in the project include determining baseline water quality through sampling, studying the underwater depth of the river and modelling the shape and features of the corridor, studying the flow velocity and identifying high-velocity areas and install erosion control measures, like planting Indigenous shrubs and plants, to control erosion.

Further, Flying Dust wants to identify soil types along the river and remove any derelict debris and vehicles from the water body.

Funding for the endeavour came after Crop Production Services (Canada) Inc. was sentenced in March 2018, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada. It transferred petroleum products into unidentified storage tank systems on the First Nation in 2016.

This was a violation under federal petroleum product regulations that aim to reduce the risk of contaminating soil and groundwater due to spills and leaks of petroleum products from storage tank systems. The company was fined $150,000 under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

“When there is environmental damage, we have the opportunity to take the funds from this damage and reinvest it back into the environment for the good of future generations to come for us as Canadians, our children and our families,” Young said.

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tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr