City estimates 337 million litres of sewage leaked into Hamilton Harbour

City officials estimate that a total of over 330 million litres of sewage leaked into the Hamilton Harbour after a hole in a pipe was not fixed for 26 years.

The hole was discovered in a combined sewer pipe on Burlington St. East that was spilling into a storm sewer pipe and then flowed into the harbour.

After preliminary investigation and consultation of City records, City staff believe that the hole was put in a combined sewer pipe in late 1996.

It is believed that 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.

City staff developed this estimate based on the water meter usage data for all of the properties connected to the combined sewer pipe.

READ MORE: City of Hamilton discovers continuous sewage spill since 1996

The repair work and realignment needed to fix the hole in the pipe was completed on Nov. 23 and city staff report that all sewage is now flowing into the Western Sanitary Interceptor.

The estimated cost of the repair work totals just under $30,000 and included onsite vacuuming of combined sewer wastewater to stop the spill, excavation and repair/realignment of the sewer, and permanent restoration of the road.

City staff remain in close communication with the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) Spills Actions Centre and shared the estimated volume of discharge with them.

In terms of infrastructure, Hamilton Water manages $14.64 billion in assets which includes more than 1,268 kilometres of sanitary sewer and 573 kilometres of combined sewer.

Mayor Andrea Horwath said in a statement that she is concerned about the environmental impacts of this spill.

At this time, the City of Hamilton has not received an Order from the Ministry of Environment in relation to this spill.

READ MORE: Hamilton mayor calls for investigation into 26-year sewage leak