City of Hamilton pleads guilty, will pay $2.9M fine for Chedoke Creek spill

The City of Hamilton will pay nearly $3 million in fines and damages for allowing 24 billion litres of sewage and stormwater to spill into Chedoke Creek.

The city said in a press release Thursday afternoon it entered a guilty plea in the Ontario Court of Justice related to charges laid by Ontario's Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) in 2020.

The city said it reached an agreement with the Crown, which will include a $2.1 million fine, a payment of $364,500 in damages to the Royal Botanical Gardens and a $525,000 victim fine surcharge.

The grand total is $2,985,500. Nick Winters, director of Hamilton Water, said the fine must be paid in four months and will be paid using reserve funds.

MECP spokesperson Gary Wheeler said in an email it is the "largest fine for a single offence under the Ontario Water Resources Act."

A valve in the city's combined sewer overflow system was left open between 2014 and 2018, causing a layer of biohazardous sediment to settle at the bottom of Chedoke Creek. Chedoke Creek flows into Cootes Paradise and into Hamilton Harbour.

Court documents show why valve was left open

An agreed statement of facts, provided to CBC Hamilton by the city, state Chedoke Creek had poor water quality before 2018, but that year, the water was getting worse.

Sampling of the creek that spring showed E.coli levels that were 24,500 times greater than the benchmark level cities use to declare water unsafe for swimming.

The agreed statement of facts say in early July, someone complained to the province about sewage being discharged into the creek.

Days after the complaint, Hamilton Public Health Services did its own sampling and declared the water a health hazard.

The city brought on a consultant to inspect, which led to them finding the influent well overflow gate was left open at five per cent, when it should've been completely closed.

WATCH: The combined sewage overflow tank behind the sewage spill

Check out Hamilton's largest CSO tank

5 years ago

Duration 1:06

Here's a look at the combined sewage overflow tank that leaked around 24 billion litres of runoff and sewage into Chedoke Creek over more than four years.

City records show it had been left open since Jan. 28, 2014, according to the agreed statement of facts.

There's no log book entry for that date to explain how it happened.

But Winters told reporters a guiding document from 2014 had "improper information" and stated the system was supposed to be left open at five per cent.

"We weren't able to determine why the error was made in that document," he said.

The agreed statement of facts says the document prevented the problem from being detected earlier.

It was also later found a different gate in the same system that should've been open stayed closed, which allowed even more sewage and rainwater to flow into the creek.

"It is clear that the high levels of E. Coli and deterioration of the natural environment between 2014 and 2018 was largely due to this combined sewage discharge," read the agreed statement of facts.

City apologizes for sewage spill

Carlyle Khan, general manager of the public works department, told reporters the city accepts "full responsibility" for the sewage spill.

"We apologize to the community, our partners and members of council for the way the situation was handled and for the resulting environmental impact," he said.

Winters also addressed local Indigenous communities, saying he understands "there are many that feel disrespected" but said the city is "on the right track."

City contractors resumed dredging up biohazardous sediment at the bottom of the creek on Thursday after the city said environmental monitoring agreements have been reached with local First Nations groups.

The city has said it will finish dredging by the end of October.

Wheeler, MECP's spokesperson, said the ministry is "pleased that Hamilton has finally begun dredging."

There have also been other initiatives, including a risk-based proactive inspection program, prompted by the discovery of other sewage spills late last year and early this year.

Hamilton mayor Andrea Horwath said in a statement the city "failed" and the guilty plea is "encouraging."

"As I've said before, there was too much secrecy in this case and not enough disclosure," she said

"Mistakes will happen, but we owe it to the people of Hamilton to own up to those mistakes and demonstrate real change in our approach going forward."