Region of Queens water customers to be compensated for 3-month boil order

The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board has approved a request to compensate water customers in the Region of Queens who endured a boil-water order for more than three-months.

The municipality applied to the board to have rates reduced by 70 per cent for one quarter of the year (one billing cycle). The board approved the application in a decision dated Dec. 5.

The boil order began Aug. 9 after the municipality's water treatment facility was damaged by a lightning strike. It was officially lifted Oct. 5, 2023.

In a statement to CBC News on Friday, Mayor Darlene Norman said the reduced rates will be reflected on the upcoming quarterly invoices dated Jan. 1, 2024.

"Council is pleased that the UARB approved the application that will be funded through a previously unused water utility reserve," Norman said in the statement.

The news is being welcomed by customers.

"I think it's good that they've finally done something for us considering how much trouble we've gone through, especially over the summer months when it was our busiest time of year to have water issues," Melanie Perron, a co-owner of Hell Bay Brewing Company in Liverpool, N.S., told CBC News in an interview on Thursday. 

"I think it's great that they're going to compensate us for ... the inconvenience we've went through."