Cape Breton

'It’s safe to drink – I drink it': Potlotek's water crisis is in the past but the fear remains

'It’s safe to drink – I drink it': Potlotek's water crisis is in the past but the fear remains

A half-century of dirty water is in the past for Cape Breton’s smallest Mi’kmaw community, but the fear and distrust remain, keeping some residents from drinking the water. A half-century of dirty water is in the past for Cape Breton’s smallest Mi’kmaw community, but the fear and distrust remain, keeping some residents from drinking the water. “I know a lot of people still don’t trust it – they’re still scared of it, and I don’t blame them. It’s been since 1972, 1974 that we’ve had ongoing problems with the water,” said long-time Potlotek chief, Wilbert Marshall. A new, state-of-the-art water treatment facility was built in 2019 aimed at eliminating the issues with excess iron and magnesium in the water supply.

Compensation available to Cape Breton community after decades of dirty water

Compensation available to Cape Breton community after decades of dirty water

When Patricia Paul saw her bathtub filling with cloudy, brown water, she decided she’d had enough. She took a photo of the scene: three inches of water so thick and dark, the bottom of the tub couldn’t be seen – a sharp contrast to the white plastic tub walls decorated with duck and turtle stickers for her young children. “It was almost black, and it smelled gross,” Paul remembers.