FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION – A section of Fort William First Nation will be under a boil water advisory for 24 hours starting the morning of July 3.The area affected starts at 692 City Road at Bannon’s Gas Bar and extends to Back Street Road. The other area affected is Corey’s Road behind Bannon’s Gas Bar.
Fort William First Nation Chief Michele Solomon said there was vague social media posts made about the advisory late last week just before the long weekend, which may have caused some confusion. “There is work that needs to be done in the distribution of the waterline. So they are required to turn the water off or have very low pressure in order to do this repair,” she said.
“There are a lot of questions now in terms of whether or not there has been any breaks in that water line, if there has been any risk to the water supply. If there has been we have not been made aware of it. I imagine if there was any risk we would have been made aware sooner.” Solomon said five or six businesses will be impacted by the water main work though she does not believe any of the gas bars will be required to close.The water is expected to return to normal in 24 hours after the start of work Wednesday morning.“This is merely a corrective action. I would imagine if any issues arise during the course of trying to do the repairs, we will be informed.”