City of Hamilton pleads guilty to provincial charges for 4-year sewage spill into creek

Hamilton will be paying out close to $3 million in fines, damages and incidental costs as a result of the guilty plea following the Chedoke Creek sewage spill revealed in 2019.

Hamilton, Ont., is taking responsibility for a four-year, 24-billion litre sewage and stormwater spill into Chedoke Creek.

The city pleaded guilty in an Ontario court on Thursday and will pay a fine of $2.1 million plus other incidental costs for the discharge that started in 2014 when a gate was left partially open in a combined sewer overflow (CSO) tank.

The decision not to fight the matter in court comes after the city’s legal counsel and the province’s solicitors suggested it was not in the best interest of the public to take the case to trial, Public Works general manager Carlisle Khan said.

“Our legal counsel went back to city council … laid out the case and kind of where we were at,” Khan explained. “At the end of the day, I think both legal (counsels) agreed that this would be in the best interest of the public.”

The city will actually fork over close to $3 million after some $364,500 is paid out to the Royal Botanical Gardens and a $525,000 victim fine surcharge.

Charges were laid by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) in December 2020, almost two weeks to the day Hamilton staff requested more time to deal with an order from the province to clean up Chedoke Creek and Cootes Paradise.

A provincial order demanded remedial measures after experts claimed the water quality continues to be impaired or may become impaired due to the continued release of contaminants into the waterways.

Part of the province’s orders included “spot dredging” to clear clogged channels in the waterways.