The City of Hamilton found that additional sewage has been entering Hamilton Harbor directly since 1996.
Seven weeks later, on Monday, this was made public. According to the city, 337 million gallons of sewage were found. has since 1996 overflowed onto the harbour.
In four years, 24 billion gallons of sewage were discovered to have escaped into Chadok Creek in 2019. This leak is still being fixed by the city.
The 337 million litre spill, which was detected in late November, caused the department to start a risk-based screening programme that concentrated on pipe sections with cross connections, according to Nick Winters, director of Hamilton Water, who was speaking at a news conference on Monday.
Since December, there have been 151 inspections, according to Winters, and last weekend the crew discovered a potential issue near Rutherford Avenue and Myrtle Avenue.
He said the team discovered on Monday that the latest leak occurred when the 100-year-old combined sewer line was joined to a recently constructed storm sewer in 1996.
As many as 11 homes immediately empty their sewage into storm drains and Hamilton Harbor.
It is unclear how much sewage from this pipe entered Lake Ontario and how much cleanup will cost.
According to Horvath, the city is acting in a proactive manner.
According to Winters, there is a suction machine on the property to stop any more sewage discharge.
He claimed to have been in touch with the city’s spill reporting number and the Department of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Parks (MECP) Spill Action Center early on Monday afternoon.
The city’s combined sewer system is “extremely ancient,” according to Mayor Andrea Horváth, who was also present at the news conference. She also emphasised that she is acting pro-actively to uphold moral standards.
She added that the city might discover more of these leaks and urged residents to notify them if they notice any leaks nearby or detect a septic stench.
