KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – Decades of government inaction at all levels has allowed water problems in Harrietsfield and Williamswood to fester. Lives are being ruined as a result.
Meet Melissa King, who with her husband bought a modest house in Harrietsfield to raise her family. The previous owner claimed the water was fine, and promptly left the country. Now King tells us how contaminated water forced the family to abandon their hopes and dreams and declare bankruptcy just so her family could start all over somewhere else.
In her most recent story, reporter Rebecca Hussman, who has written about Harrietsfield extensively, reports that an independent health impact study shows how terribly alarming the situation really is.
This week’s weekend video is a fragment of a much longer and truly excellent documentary, Defenders of the Dawn: Green Rights in the Maritimes, by activist, author and filmmaker Silver Donald Cameron. The documentary investigates the idea that clean air, clean water and a clean earth are basic human rights. If you haven’t yet, check out this CBC production here.
Silver Donald Cameron is the driving force behind the Green Interview, a series of inspiring documentaries, well over 100 interviews, and a book, all focusing on environmental issues. Check out its website here. Some of the material on the website requires a subscription.
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pfffft the NS government doesn’t care if you have potable water, my community (Joggins) has NEVER had safe drinking water, it’s not even fit to wash with, it leaves gray spots on dishes and clothes get dingy fast, it ruins washer pumps and erodes pipes. There used to be the waterman who delivered weekly not sure when that stopped, then you could get it at the fire station but they put an end to that, Now we all have to buy water, drive 25 km to the public faucet in Amherst or spend thousands on remediation in our homes.