Over the last 26 years, some 400 million litres of sewage drained into Lake Ontario via two leaks. Photo credit: The Canadian Press/Nathan Dennette
After the City of Hamilton’s two recent sewage leaks, the Government of Ontario has issued the City a provincial order to undertake a series of inspections.
In November 2022, the City of Hamilton discovered that a hole had accidentally been drilled in a Burlington Street East sewage pipe in 1996, sending millions of litres of sewage from about 50 homes into Lake Ontario over 26 years.
After that discovery, the City launched a series of inspections and uncovered another similar leak in January 2023 from 11 homes on Rutherford Avenue. That leak is also deemed to have been active for 26 years.
Although the City can say that holes were accidentally drilled in those two sewage pipes in 1996, they also say that they have no reason to believe that the incidents were connected.
A combined total of 396 million litres of wastewater is estimated to have drained into Lake Ontario from the Burlington Street and Rutherford Avenue leaks.
Despite the large amount of sewage leaked, the two incidents pale in comparison to the 24 billion litres that drained into Chedoke Creek after a sewer grate was left open between 2014 and 2018 in an incident known as “Sewergate.”
However, the City and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks are particularly concerned about the latest two leaks since they believe that there could be more leaks ongoing.
As such, the Ministry has issued a provincial order with a number of required steps and deadlines that the City of Hamilton must take.
Environment Minister David Piccini previously indicated that an order would likely be coming.
The order was issued by Ontario environment officer Tyler Kelly. Among the requirements written in the order is a damning analysis of the situation.
“It is my opinion that the City of Hamilton does not have adequate programs to inspect, monitor, and identify unauthorized connections causing spills,” writes Kelly.
“It is my opinion that additional spills similar to this event could be currently occurring.”
The order includes eight parts and four different deadlines.
By February 26, 2023, the City of Hamilton had to have retained a qualified contractor. By March 17, the City must develop a sampling program and provide a timeline to implement that program to the Ministry.
By May 12, the City must identify recommendations for improving sewage inspection programs. And by June 30, the City must document its programs and processes for identifying spills and include various improvements discovered over the previous months.
They must also assess the feasibility of either doing a detailed in-pipe inspection of the whole system or doing targeted inspections. The City previously estimated that a detailed inspection would take four years to complete.
The latest two spills have also been referred to the investigations and enforcement branch of the Ministry of the Environment who will determine whether the City of Hamilton breached the Environmental Protection Act or Ontario Water Resources Act.
The investigation could lead to charges against the City.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
