Sewage leak pegged at 337 million litres

Pipe that connected to 50 properties had a hole in it allowing undetected flow since 1996

The city estimates 337 million litres of sewage from east Hamilton properties flushed undetected into the harbour since 1996.

That’s based on staff’s analysis of water usage from 50 properties that were connected to a combined sewer pipe that had a hole in it.

That hole, which the city discovered last week and believes a contractor erred in making 26 years ago, allowed the sewage to drain into the lake via a stormwater culvert. The problematic configuration near Burlington and Wentworth streets was corrected Wednesday night.

“Staff very quickly were able to identify an option to repair the sewers in this area,” Nick Winters, the city’s water director, told councillors Monday.

The city has also shared the estimated volume of the nearly quarter-century leak with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

Last week, in the wake of the city’s discovery, Environment Minister David Piccini said he planned to order an “audit” of Hamilton’s entire sewer system.

That, however, would cost at least $10 million and take more than four years, Winters said Monday.

Instead, the water division favours a “risk-based” approach that would target potential trouble spots in the network that “can be delivered faster, that can be delivered cheaper.”

In an emailed statement Monday, a ministry spokesperson wrote that Piccini remains “extremely concerned” by the harbour leak and called the city’s “continued lack of oversight ... unacceptable.”

Piccini reiterated his expectation that the city “conduct a comprehensive assessment of all their sewage infrastructure.”

But the ministry hasn’t yet formally ordered the city to do the work “as the scope is still being defined.” Officials are examining “what additional actions will be required” to prevent future sewage leaks, which “would be a significant undertaking and a multi-year initiative.”

The city continues to deal with the fallout of a four-year, 24-billion-litre sewage leak into Chedoke Creek in the west end that sparked provincial cleanup orders and pollution charges.

In an interview, Winters acknowledged the Chedoke leak “certainly” identified “gaps” in city wastewater management, but said the harbour spill would have been “challenging for any municipality to identify in a timely manner.”

In an ongoing effort to piece together how the faulty connection was created, water staff examined contract documents relating to the reconstruction and widening of Burlington Street East in 1996.

They showed the work involved sewer upgrades and a change to an “incorrectly labelled” combined sewage pipe that resulted to the “improper connection” to a storm pipe, a staff report notes.