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Evacuees from Kashechewan First Nation who have been away from their homes for more than six months are awaiting water testing results to learn if it’s safe to return to the fly-in community in northern Ontario.
Officials with Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) are in the community collecting water samples after the local water system was successfully flushed with chlorine dioxide.
The Cree community near Ontario’s James Bay coast has been in a state of emergency since Jan. 4 due to issues with the water treatment plant.
More than 60 people tested positive for the parasite cryptosporidium that can cause gastrointestinal issues such as nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.
Tyson Wesley, the First Nation’s executive director, said that after repairs were completed at the water treatment plant, flushing the system with chlorine dioxide was the final step.
Wesley said that process took longer than expected because the solution was also pumped through fire hydrants and people’s home plumbing to ensure any parasites still in the system were killed.
“We found 30 per cent of the houses had deficiencies in their sinks and their tubs,” he said. “So that’s something that we had to get teams in to fix.”
Indigenous Services Canada spokesperson Pascal Laplante confirmed in an email to CBC News that it will take around a week to receive test results from the water samples.
If the federal agency determines the water is safe to drink, Wesley said, Kashechewan’s 1,700 evacuees will be able to return home.
Those evacuees have been living in hotels in several Ontario cities and towns, including Timmins, Kapuskasing, Cochrane, Kingston and Niagara Falls.
Because other First Nations in the northwest are in a state of emergency due to wildfires, however, Wesley said it could take more time to book flights and get evacuees home.
He added that the long evacuation has taken a toll on people’s mental and physical health.
“We’re hoping that the government and our funders that support mental health programming can provide more support as we’re returning home.”
Annual flooding risk
Kashechewan is at risk of flooding every spring from the Albany River, and some of the community evacuates every year.
Chief Hosea Wesley has called on the provincial and federal governments to move forward with plans to relocate the First Nation to higher ground.
The federal government promised in 2019 to move Kashechewan about 30 km to the south to a location known as Site 5 within 10 years.
ISC announced last year that it was approving around $8.4 million to undertake detailed planning studies for the relocation of the community.
