City of Hamilton finds another sewage leak happening since 1996

The City of Hamilton has discovered a 27-year-old, continuous sewage spill into Hamilton Harbour, the second leak detected within two months.

In an abrupt news conference Monday, the city said investigators found out on Saturday that a 100-year-old combined sewer pipe in the area of Rutherford and Myrtle avenues was connected into a newly constructed storm sewer in 1996.

“Since that time, as many as 11 residential properties have been discharging sanitary wastewater directly to the storm sewer and onward to Hamilton Harbour,” said Hamilton Water Director Nick Winters.

Officials said the leak did not affect any drinking water pipes.

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

The city said it is currently not aware of the exact volume of the discharge from the homes that are connected to this pipe, but it will publicly report that number as soon as their assessment is complete.

“Our immediate priority upon discovering the leak was mitigating the spill and protecting the environment,” Winters said.

It notified Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks of the spill around 1:45 p.m. Monday. Ten minutes later, it reported the leak to City Spills.

A vacuum truck will remain at the scene to address any further leakage until repairs are done.

READ MORE: City estimates 337 million litres of sewage leaked into Hamilton Harbour

In November 2022, officials found a 26-year-old, continuous sewage spill into Hamilton Harbour. The city later determined that a total of over 330 million litres of sewage leaked from the pipe connected to approximately 50 homes near Burlington St. and Wentworth St. North.

Since then, Hamilton Water staff have launched an inspection program that focuses on cross-connected pipe sections.

Winters said there have been 151 inspections since December 2022.