Mayor of Casselman, Ont. looking for solutions to town's drinking water problems
Casselman, Ont. Mayor Genevieve Lajoie invited residents to talk about the town’s drinking water woes on Wednesday night. After weeks of water quality advisories in the summer of 2023, the mayor is determined to fix the problem once and for all.
The community currently gets its water from the South Nation River and when river levels go down in the summer the manganese level goes up, leaving the water smelly and discoloured. Manganese occurs naturally in the rocks and soil in the area.
The water tower in Casselman, Ont. (Shaun Vardon/CTV News Ottawa)
Last summer, the local health unit told residents the drinking water met standards, but they still recommended residents use bottled water for preparing baby formula or food and drinks for young people. That concerns Melanie Belisle, after her family and pets were forced to use bottled water and she does not want a repeat of that.
"We want to be able to just go to the tap and grab a glass of water and drink it but when it smells and looks yellow we can’t," Belisle said. "There is no price on safe water."
Lajoie supports a plan to switch the community's water from the South Nation River to the Ottawa River, but that comes with a hefty price tag. Unless the provincial and federal governments step up, there is no way the town can afford the $100 million price tag for a new pipeline connecting them with Rockland.
"I need the public to be involved in this. This is going to be a big decision we are going to be making so I think it’s important to get their feedback and their thoughts," Lajoie said. "Write to your MPs and MPPs, tell the government that they need to align their funding and help Casselman."
Lajoie says there are some other options available but none of them will offer a permanent solution and give the growing community the volume and quality of drinking water it needs. Lajoie will hold another public meeting on the plans on Friday, April 19 at 10:30 a.m. in the Town Hall on St-Jean Street.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Guilty: Trump becomes first former U.S. president convicted of felony crimes
Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Can Trump come to Canada now that he's a convicted felon?
A Canadian immigration lawyer says now that Donald Trump is a convicted felon, he is technically barred from crossing the border into Canada.
Montreal tech billionaire charged with several sex offences
Robert Miller was charged Thursday with several sexual assault charges after Montreal police reopened an investigation into the tech billionaire.
Police: 3 killed, including suspected gunman, in Minneapolis shooting
Three people, including the suspected gunman, are dead after a shooting Thursday at a Minneapolis apartment complex, police said.
'Why didn't they stop?' Mom asks of driver in hit-and-run crash that killed son
The mother of a 13-year-old boy who was killed in a hit-and-run in Edmonton is begging the driver to come forward.
The northern lights are returning to night skies across Canada this Friday
If you missed the brilliant displays of the aurora borealis over North America on May 10, you may have another chance to see them on Friday night.
A pair enjoyed pricey meals and bolted when it was time to pay. Their dine and dash ended in jail
A Welsh couple who dined out on pricey meals and bolted when the bill came is now paying the price, behind bars.
$400K in damages for B.C. woman who had unnecessary mastectomy was 'inordinately high,' court finds
A jury's award of $400,000 to a woman who had a mastectomy after being misdiagnosed with breast cancer has been substantially reduced by B.C.'s highest court, which found the damages were "wholly disproportionate."