City of Hamilton advising of a spill at Golf Club Road and Fletcher Road

HAMILTON, ON – Earlier this week, during the construction of the Dickenson Road Sanitary Trunk Sewer Project, a contractor working on behalf of the City of Hamilton struck an abandoned sewer forcemain and caused a spill.

The spill occurred on January 23, 2023 as part of ongoing work on the project. Vacuum trucks were deployed to site that afternoon and the spill was stopped by 3 pm. A sample of the liquid was collected for laboratory analysis with results expected early next week.

The contractor contacted the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Spills Action Centre on January 23 at approximately 5 pm., who called the City of Hamilton’s spills reporting line at 7:49 pm. 

Staff from Hamilton Water’s Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement (EME) unit attended the site on January 24, 2023 to investigate. 

It was expected that the abandoned sewer had filled with groundwater over time, and that the spilled liquid was not harmful.

Upon further investigation, it was determined on January 26, 2023 that the abandoned sewer had not been flushed prior to its abandonment, and therefore it is likely that some sewage was present in the spill. 

Residents at nearby properties were informed about the spill. As a precaution, nearby properties on wells will receive bottled water until sample results are available.

The following additional steps are being taken to investigate any possible environmental or drinking water impacts:

• Conduct groundwater quality testing at properties where possible between Hwy 56 and Fletchers Road
• Visits to the approximately 30 houses between 3667 Golf Club Road in the west to 3109 Golf Club Road in the east, to make arrangements to have a water quality sample collected in the next several days for comparison to the Provincial drinking water standards
• Public Health Services has been informed of the situation and will review the results from well samples once received
• A soil inspection and sampling program where the spill occurred
• Surface water sample will be collected from the nearest downstream tributary and submitted for analysis of E. Coli / microbiology and ammonia in comparison to the applicable Provincial Water Quality Objectives

City of Hamilton staff will continue to remain in contact with nearby residents with project updates and any test results.

Description of Project:

The work is part of the Dickenson Road Sanitary Trunk Sewer (STS) Construction Project, one of a series of trunk sewers that was recommended in the Water and Wastewater Master Plan Phases I and II that was completed in 2006 and 2016 respectively, to support the Airport Employment Growth District. The Dickenson Road STS will be10 km in length and between 4 to 15 m deep, beneath Golf Club Road between Trinity Church Road to RR 56, Trinity Church Road from Dickenson Road to Golf Club Road, and beneath Dickenson Road from Upper James Street to Trinity Church Road.