As much as 337 million litres of sewage flowed into Hamilton Harbour over 26 years due to a hole in a combined sewer pipe.
The City of Hamilton said municipal officials estimated the size of the leak based on the water use of connected properties.
As the Canadian national soccer teams head to their respective FIFA World Cups, Derek Van Diest is on the scene to cover all the action. Expect expert insights and analysis in your inbox daily throughout the tournaments, and weekly on Thursdays for the rest of the season.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Corner Kicks with Derek Van Diest will soon be in your inbox.
“The repair work and realignment of the sewer was completed on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022 at 9:32 p.m., and all sewage is now flowing into the Western Sanitary Interceptor and all appropriate repairs to the combined sewer have been completed,” a city statement released Monday says. “The catchment area for the combined sewer system services is approximately 50 properties that are tied into the pipe.”
The bill for repairing the pipe was $29,830, not including staff time.
City workers conducted a preliminatry investigation and now believe the hole was created in the combined sewer pipe in late 1996.
“A contractor completing work on a city project was under the impression that all pipes in the area were storm sewers and were designed to directly connect to box culverts leading out to the harbour,” the city statement says.
Mayor Andrea Horwath has asked the city auditor to investigate how a spill of this nature could go undetected for more than 20 years and has promised the completed report will be publicly released.
Recommended video
“I am concerned about the environmental impacts of this spill, and while we are not yet aware of the total volume of sewage released, I have been informed that it was substantial,” Horwath said in an earlier statement. “I was assured that the nature of the spill makes the risk to human health very low.”
Ontario Environment Minister David Piccini has called the leak unacceptable and is ordering Hamilton to audit its entire sewage system.
Hamilton Water is responsible for more than 1,268 kilometres of sanitary sewers and 573 kilometres of combined sewers.
“During wet weather, flows can exceed the capacity of the combined sewer system and combined sewage overflows into local creeks and streams,” the city statement says. “These overflows are necessary in order to prevent basement flooding and to protect the Woodward Avenue wastewater treatment plant against overloading. In 2021, the average volume of combined sewage discharged from the Wentworth combined sewer outfall untreated was 17,394,000 litres per event.”
aartuso@postmedia.com