Hamilton will dredge enough sludge out of Chedoke Creek to fill four Olympic pools
Hamilton's latest plan to dredge sewage-soaked Chedoke Creek will vacuum up enough polluted muck to fill four Olympic-sized swimming pools.
City councillors will consider an update report next week on the dredging project ordered by the province after The Spectator revealed the magnitude of a four-year, 24-billion-litre sewage spill into the creek and Cootes Paradise marsh.
The latest update on the $6-million project suggests dredging should begin in mid-July - although there is a timeline challenge" in earning myriad environmental approvals from at least five different government agencies.
The report says the plan is to use a vacuum-like dredging machine to suck up to 10,000 cubic metres of polluted muck - to a depth of about a metre - off the bottom of the creek channel that parallels Kay Drage Park and empties into Cootes.
The goal is to remove dozens of tonnes of phosphoros and nitrogen estimated to have been left behind by the sewage spill that threatens to feed algae blooms and harm native wildlife in the recovering marsh.
The slurry" will be deposited temporarily in a special containment area in Kay Drage Park where polluted liquid will be separated from sediment and sent to the sewage treatment plant.
The plan likely means at least part of the popular soccer park will be off-limits during the summer, but details of any park closures are not yet available.
The report notes the city will also have to plan for any issues related to odour, street cleaning and trucking polluted material to the dump.
The city has until December 2022 to complete the dredging project - but there is plenty of extra work to come.
Environmental assessment studies will begin this year on other options to rehabilitate and protect Cootes Paradise following the infamous spill.
That will including looking at a pitch by the Royal Botanical Gardens to install floating wetlands and a mechanical aeration system - think underwater pipes spouting bubbles - that would be meant to treated polluted creek water before it reaches the eco-sensitive marsh.
Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at for The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com