The City of Hamilton reaffirms its dedication to enhancing wastewater and stormwater infrastructures following a $600,000 penalty imposed for sewage seepage into Hamilton Harbour over 26 years. A provincial court levied the fine after the city’s admission of guilt before Justice of the Peace Alexander Andres.
The guilty plea was accepted by Andres for the leakage discovered in 2022, involving millions of gallons of sewage flowing into the harbour. Crown counsel Amanda Landre, representing the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks, presented an agreed-upon statement of facts in court.
Landre disclosed that on November 22, 2022, City of Hamilton staff notified the ministry about a hole found in a combined sewage pipe, leading to the direct discharge of combined sewage (sanitary and storm) into Hamilton Harbour through a storm sewer. The sewage spill came to light when a city employee reviewed video footage of a sewer maintenance hole from 2013.
The affected combined sewer pipe, situated at the junction of Burlington Street E. and Wentworth Street N., was linked to a storm sewer that discharged into the harbour through a submerged outfall at the end of Wentworth Street N. The city promptly halted the sanitary sewage discharge to the harbour upon discovering the leak, containing and collecting it with a vacuum truck until sewer repairs were finished on November 23, 2022.
The City of Hamilton conducted an investigation revealing that the hole in the combined sewer at Burlington Street E. and Wentworth Street N. likely resulted from a road construction project in 1996. Approximately 50 properties within the catchment area had been discharging into the combined sewer pipe, leading to an estimated 337 million liters of sanitary sewage spill over 26 years based on municipal water usage records.
Another cross-connected sewer was identified by the City of Hamilton at the intersection of Rutherford Avenue and Myrtle Avenue on January 9, 2023, discharging into Hamilton Harbour. The city promptly reported and contained the sewage spill using a vacuum truck until repairs were completed on January 11, 2023.
A joint submission by the city and the ministry recommended a $600,000 fine and an $80,000 payment to the Bay Area Restoration Council. The City of Hamilton pleaded guilty to the charges and expressed regret over the incidents’ impact on the community. The city spokesperson, James Berry, emphasized the city’s commitment to rectifying the situation, enhancing safeguards, and improving wastewater systems.
Berry highlighted proactive inspections and investigations across the city’s sewer system, with no additional improperly connected sewers identified. The city aims to enhance transparency, environmental protection, and service delivery to residents. Landre noted the absence of an inspection program for potential cross connections in the combined sewer system before December 2022.