Anishinaabe communities come together to continue protecting Lake Superior for future generations
By Rick Garrick
PAYS PLAT — Pays Plat Chief Peter Mushquash emphasized the importance of protecting Lake Superior for future generations during a Dec. 15 announcement of water treatment plant investments in his community and Biigtigong Nishnaabeg.
“Water is important, it’s very important,” Chief Mushquash says. “That’s where we get our water, right out of Lake Superior. So we have to look after that Lake Superior. We have to be very careful with our water.”
The federal government is investing more than $3.7 million and the provincial government $908,443 for the two projects — construction of a new water treatment plant in Biigtigong Nishnaabeg and upgrades to the Pays Plat water treatment plant.
“It’s good to see the First Nations, the province and the federal government working together on these kinds of projects, and particularly infrastructure projects like drinking water because water is so important to our health and welfare,” says Biigtigong Nishnaabeg Chief Duncan Michano. “Everybody needs clean drinking water; number one to stay healthy and number two for firefighting.”
Biigtigong Nishnaabeg’s new water treatment plant includes an infiltration gallery, a low lift station with a wet well and low lift pump chamber and a below-grade reservoir as well as a new conventional water treatment system, high lift pumps, fire pumps and a new septic system.
“Technology gets outdated quickly so we need periodically to update,” Chief Michano says. “We have a good crew — the water guys do a fabulous job of making water for us but we are constantly searching for new sources because as our population expands, we need more water.”
Chief Michano thanked the federal and provincial governments for investing in the new water treatment plant.
“This funding is a much-needed initial phase in our project that will ensure we have a complete and functional water treatment system right from the source to the tap,” Chief Michano says.
The Pays Plat upgrades include the replacement of outdated control systems, installation of chlorine dosing pumps with automatic switch-over capacity, cleaning of the drinking water reservoir and distribution valves, replacement of the diesel fire pump motor with an electrical motor to remove the risk of diesel contaminating the reservoir and installation of new sand filters, low and high lift pumps and distribution system valves.
“I would like to simply say thank you to all the people involved,” Chief Mushquash says. “The government people that our people talked to and the back and forth and planning and more discussions, that’s the way things got done, one less community with the boil water advisories. To our front line people at the water treatment plant, thank you.”
Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu says infrastructure plays an important role in setting the table for the determinants of health.
“Investments in public infrastructure like drinking water systems are vital to building healthy communities and supporting First Nations families,” Hajdu says. “The water system upgrade at Pays Plat will improve the treatment and quality of drinking water, prevent system failure and extend the life of the asset. And at Biigtigong … the new water treatment plant will be built that will be easier to operate and monitor and will deliver not only high-quality water for consumption and washing but also fire protection for community residents.”
Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith says the provincial government is proud to contribute towards the two projects.
“Drinking water is something that all of us really rely on and making sure that we have clean drinking water available to everyone is something all governments have committed to,” Smith says. “It’s great to see that we’re moving forward with this type of a project.”