The leak caused an estimated 337 million litres of raw sewage to drain into Hamilton Harbour (pictured) from 1996 to now. Officials made the discovery during a review of past records last week. Photo credit: marianas.com
The City of Hamilton is at the centre of yet another major sewage leak news story after officials discovered that a hole accidentally drilled into a pipe has been sending wastewater into Hamilton Harbour for the past 26 years.
The city estimates that 337 million litres of raw sewage have flowed into the harbour since 1996 from a pipe in the area of Wentworth Street North and Burlington Street East. The water has been flowing into the industrial Hamilton Harbour in an area that is closed to the public at Pier 12.
Director of Hamilton Water Nick Winters said that an incorrect diagram was given to contractors in 1996. As a result, the contractor drilled a large hole into a combined sewage pipe. The City says that the contractor was “under the impression that all pipes were storm sewers.”
Instead of simply being a pipe that directs street run-off into the harbour, the hole that was drilled connected wastewater sewage from 50 properties into the lake.
Despite the long length of the leak, the total amount of sewage spilled into the harbour is significantly less than the 24 billion litres that leaked into Chedoke Creek over four years in an incident known as “Sewergate”.
Hamilton Water say that they were preparing to do other work in the area and, while reviewing past records, came across the unusual instance of a hole in the sewage pipe. The leak was discovered on November 22.
The City reported that repair work was completed almost immediately.
“The repair work and realignment of the sewer was completed on Wednesday, November 23, 2022 at 9:32PM and all sewage is now flowing into the Western Sanitary Interceptor and all appropriate repairs to the combined sewer have been completed,” read a City of Hamilton statement.
The City estimates the repair costs at $29,830. That includes $17,000 for realignment of the sewer, $9,830 for onsite vacuuming of combined wastewater, and $3,000 for road restoration.
The municipality has informed the Ministry of Environment, Conservative, and Parks and the ministry has dispatched an environmental officer to the site. Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath has also called the city auditor to investigate the circumstances of the leak and provide a full public report.
“What I want to see, what we need to see as Hamiltonians, is some evidence as to how this occurred and was able to go undetected for this length of time,” said Horwath.
She continued by declaring that her “promise to Hamiltonians is that the City will continue to make information available to the public as it becomes available.”
The City was quick to create a unique webpage on their site to provide Hamiltonians with updates about the incident. The webpage includes a detailed timeline of events, resources and images, as well as additional resources that include links to the city’s media release and a statement from Mayor Andrea Horwath.
Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Kevin Geenen reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on social media. He is a regular contributor with The Hamilton Independent and has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. He is known for Hamilton Neighbourhood Watch crime updates and no-nonsense news graphics. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa and later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal from Governor General David Johnston and formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. He is currently employed as an Office Administrator at RE/MAX Escarpment. His journalistic work is independent of his other positions.
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.
