N.S. First Nation grappling with ‘water crisis’ calls for federal action
CHAPEL ISLAND, N.S. — A Nova Scotia Indigenous community struggling with dark, foul-smelling tap water is calling on the federal government to fix a problem that has lingered for a decade.
Potlotek First Nation residents have been told not to drink, bathe or wash clothes in the water, which has high levels of iron and manganese.
“You see black water coming out of the tap and it doesn’t smell nice,” John Paul, executive director of the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs, said in an interview Thursday. “It lasts for about a month every year. It’s horrible.”
Chief Wilbert Marshall said the community of about 500 people has been working with Ottawa on a solution for 10 years, but residents still don’t have clean, reliable drinking water.