Oneida Nation of the Thames declares state of emergency amid ‘all-time low’ water supply

Oneida Nation of the Thames residents are being asked to halt all non-essential water usage for the foreseeable future amid a state of emergency that was declared by the community last week.

Oneida officials declared a state of emergency on Dec. 15 after an “all-time low” water level was recorded in the community’s water tower, its main source of water.

In a statement on Tuesday, the First Nation said the water tower would likely not refill to the necessary level unless there were further conservation efforts by residents.

“On Sunday, the Oneida Emergency Control Group met with representatives from Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), Emergency Management Ontario, Public Safety Canada, the City of London, Middlesex County, and the Ministry of Natural Resources to assess the issue and how short-term relief can come to the community,” the statement said.

One of the short-term relief options includes daily water deliveries from a private water company in Kitchener, something Oneida’s Chief says will cost taxpayers $20,000 per day.

“Our community is in crisis. Canada is taking a reactive approach and we cannot fix this alone. … Everyone should be angry at this unnecessary situation,” said Chief Todd Cornelius in a statement.

Water levels will be monitored daily until they are replenished to a safe level, officials said.

Oneida has been under a long-term drinking water advisory since September 2020, and before that had been under a self-imposed boil water advisory for a year.

Oneida Nation of the Thames leaders and residents have called for improvements to the community’s water infrastructure for more than a decade.

Oneida’s drinking water is not sourced from Lake Erie or Huron as it is for neighbouring non-Indigenous communities, but rather the Thames River. Upstream, the City of London has dumped millions of litres of raw sewage into the river during significant rainfall events.

In 2019, an investigation by The Toronto Star and Ryerson School of Journalism, conducted in collaboration with Global News and other media outlets, found Oneida’s water distribution system had not met provincial standards going back to 2006. The system is operated by Oneida, with regulatory oversight from ISC.

As well, the investigation found that 18 years of water quality testing across the First Nation sometimes showed striking levels of pathogens such as E. coli coming from residents’ faucets.

Oneida’s water treatment plant was constructed in 1998, two years before the Walkerton E. coli outbreak left six people dead and led to significant policy changes across the country, including Ontario’s Safe Drinking Water Act.

Plans to upgrade Oneida’s water treatment plant have been in the works for years, but it’s unclear as to when it will be completed. An online ISC database, listing what federal investments have been made in Indigenous communities, shows Oneida’s water system upgrade project as “ongoing” with few other details.

The state of emergency declaration last week came a day after the six-year anniversary of a deadly fire on the First Nation that killed Kurt Justin Antone, 43, and his four children, seven-year-old Keanu, four-year-old Kenneth, three-year-old Kance, and three-month-old Kyias.

In a statement, Oneida officials said that fire flow and poor housing conditions remained “constant concerns for the community. Even after the tragedy and promises from Canada to provide a solution of connecting to existing municipal systems little has happened to rectify the dire situation.”

Global News reached out to Oneida Nation of the Thames and to Indigenous Services Canada for comment but did not receive a response from either by publishing time.

“We are located only 30 kilometres from London. We have had tragic events due to insufficient infrastructure for years, and we are still experiencing inadequate access to water — a basic human right,” said Pam Tobin, Oneida’s chief executive officer, in a statement.

“This is a blatant example of what Indigenous communities are experiencing as a result of slow progress with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).”

The Trudeau government promised to end all long-term boil water advisories when it was first elected in 2015. So far, 132 advisories have ended, but there are still 31 active in 27 communities.

Earlier this year, the federal government set aside $1.5 billion to compensate Indigenous people who have been without clean drinking water, the result of a class-action suit initiated by Neskantaga First Nation, Curve Lake First Nation and Tataskweyak Cree Nation in 2019.

The court approved a settlement agreement on Dec. 22, 2021.

The settlement will compensate people living in communities that were subject to a drinking water advisory of at least one year between November 1995 and June 20, 2021. The settlement claims period is open and people can apply for compensation until next March.

In April, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu noted individual compensation would never make up for the harm to people’s lives, but added the government’s commitment of at least $6 billion through the settlement was meant to end all boil-water advisories “once and for all.”

The settlement also included a $400 million First Nation Economic and Cultural Restoration Fund, and a promise of “making all reasonable efforts” to repeal the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act.

— with files from The Canadian Press; Jake Jeffery of Global News; Declan Keogh, Katie Swyers, Benjamin Hargreaves and Julianna Perkins of Ryerson School of Journalism; and Robert Cribb of The Toronto Star.