Despite Mayor Brain's hopeful notes of Thursday; Boil Water Notice enters Day 39

Four days after Mayor Lee Brain offered up some hope that the Boil Water Notice currently in place in Prince Rupert may soon be lifted, the advisory remains in place marking Day 39 of the Boil Water order since it was first put in place on December 14th.

That with no change to the last message from the City of Prince Rupert which was posted to the city's website on January 14th.

Mr. Brain who was out of town last week took to his Facebook page last Thursday with his update, the presentation coming in the midst of a bit of a social media fire storm over the events of Monday evening's Council session. With some of the online reaction stoked by an update from Acting Mayor Wade Niesh on the situation.

The scope of Thursday's Facebook video from the Mayor consisted of about one minute of an update on the current Boil Water situation, along with roughly ten minutes of a review of the council's past work on the file and some thoughts on the use of Social media to share concerns.

As for the Boil Water notes, on Thursday evening the Mayor indicated that some positive signs had been seen from past testing and that it was up to Northern Health to advise when the Boil Order Notice could be lifted.

"We've received multiple clear samples now, back from the lab, we're just waiting for Northern Health now to give us the all clear, they need a few consistent clear samples to come in and once they're determined that there are enough clear samples they will lift the notice for us"

With Friday coming to an end and nothing new for the community by this morning noted on the City website, the community remains pretty much where they were on December 14th, boiling their water for home use and/or loading up on bottled water for home consumption.

The local organizer of a new community group that has put its focus on the community's water supply has provided for a new update from the organization, with Tom Kertes from Community for Clean Water offering up some thoughts from a Brown Bag Lunch hosted by MLA Jennifer Rice last week, where some discussion took place on the city's water issues.

Ms. Rice had taken to her own Facebook page on Thursday with her own statement on the city's water situation, along with some comments directed towards City Council's work of Monday.

Community for Clean Water also has announced its quest to be allowed to make as submission to the Mayor and City Council at the next Prince Rupert council session on the 28th of January.

In a letter submitted to City Hall, the organization outlines some of its concerns as the Boil Water notice remains in effect, they also note how they hope to speak to what they call a Clean Water preparedness plan.

Community for Clean Water requests an opportunity to address City Council at its January 28, 2019 meeting - in order to express why we believe that the City of Prince Rupert should prioritize the provision of accessible and clean drinking water for everyone, and especially for its most vulnerable residents. Elders, infants, people with compromised immune systems, people without adequate housing, and persons with disabilities or medical needs should have access to clean water, even when a boil water notice or advisory is in place.

You can review the document here.

More items of interest related to the Community for Clean Water plans can be explored here.

You can review our archive of notes since the Boil Order first went into effect from our archive page here.

For more items of note from Prince Rupert City Council see our archive page here.

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