Public works: Contaminated soil on Kenilworth reservoir gone by July

The city expects to replace 16,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil with clean dirt atop the Kenilworth Access reservoir by July.

Trucks are hauling the material polluted with benzo(a)pyrene from the nearly 60-year-old reservoir to a waste facility in Toronto.

A contractor discovered the soil was laced with the coal-burning carcinogen while digging at the underground structure that stores drinking water for Mountain residents.

The befouled material must come out and fresh soil must replace it, notes Mark Bainbridge, director of planning and capital in the city's water division.

It is a concrete storage location for water, and we typically have a cover on top of that so it's not just an open rooftop."

The $6.8-million job, which also includes repair work, spurred council last year to ask staff about potential contamination at the rest of the city's 11 reservoirs or drinking-water infrastructure.

We typically do not do unprompted soil sampling at the sites that we have," Bainbridge told The Spectator on Wednesday.

But the discovery of contaminated soil at the Kenilworth reservoir certainly opened the question" about other sites, he added.

Staff expect to report back to council in the first half of this year on a plan for proactive soil testing at all of the city's drinking-water facilities, Bainbridge said.

The city says it continues to conduct regular testing of the drinking water at the Kenilworth reservoir to make sure it's safe.

The project is just one of many that Hamilton's massive public works department aims to carry out in 2022.

On Wednesday, staff pitched a hike of 4.7 per cent - or about $12.5 million more - for a $297.7-million tax-supported operating budget in 2022.

Overall, between operating and capital needs, public works expects to carry out a $1.26-billion plan this year.

That includes an ongoing upgrade of the Woodward sewage plant, and remediation efforts in the aftermath of a 24-billion-litre sewage spill into Chedoke Creek and Cootes Paradise.

Major road work and rehabilitation projects, including the bin" retaining walls on the escarpment-climbing Claremont Access, are on the radar.

So are park revamps, including at Sam Lawrence, William Connell and the Hamilton Amateur Athletic Association Grounds, as well as investments in public transit and aging buildings.

Public works also plans to continue filling out the city's tree canopy after 17,908 were planted last year.

That's an incredible news story," Coun. Nrinder Nann said of last year's total, before asking about subpar soil in industrial areas, including along Burlington Street.

Some trees can withstand poor soil quality, including the ginkgo, which is not native to the area but more resilient to high salt loading, said Craig Murdoch, acting general manager of public works.

Last year, public works staff responded to 1,316 calls relating to storm-damaged trees and removed 2,162 ash trees in its ongoing response to the emerald ash borer.

Aging irrigation systems at floral traffic islands are another challenge, Murdoch noted. When the systems get older, repairs and maintenance get more costly, or break down and require additional manual watering, which is expensive."

Coun. Tom Jackson said he was trusting and hoping" beautified intersections and islands wouldn't be left to wither.

Murdoch said staff are proactively replacing" the older or failing ones.

Council has more budget talks ahead with a goal of approving the city's overall spending plan in March.

Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com