The City of Hamilton says it has discovered sewage has been leaking into the Hamilton Harbour since 1996 because of a hole in a combined sewage pipe in the industrial sector.
It’s unclear how much sewage has spilled into the harbour.
But Nick Winters, director of Hamilton Water, told reporters on Tuesday afternoon “it’s going to be a big number,” adding the city will publicly release the number as soon as they have it.
Winters said Hamilton Water staff were investigating a separate issue when they discovered the hole Tuesday at the northeast corner of Wentworth Street North and Burlington Street East.
A preliminary investigation from staff notes they believe a consultant put the hole into the combined sewage pipe in 1996, he said.
“It appears the consultant involved in that work was under the impression all the sewers in that area were storm sewers and they designed a direct connection to a culvert that leads out to Hamilton Harbour.”
He said staff contacted the province’s spills action centre at roughly 12:20 p.m. ET Tuesday and reported it to the city’s spill reporting line.
There’s also a vacuum truck at the site as a short-term way to stop the flow of sewage into the environment, according to Winters.
City staff said Tuesday the drinking water of Hamilton residents has not been affected, but the spill will have impacted the environment of the harbour.
This comes as the city is in the process of cleaning up 24 billion litres of sewage that leaked into Chedoke Creek for four years.
More to come