City aims to start dredging Chedoke Creek
The city plans to start dredging a sewage-polluted west Hamilton creek while negotiating agreements for Indigenous environmental monitors at the work site.
The roughly $6-million effort to clean up Chedoke Creek has been on hold since late August amid objections by representatives of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council.
We need to proceed with this work, so it's critical," Carlyle Khan, general manager of public works, said Wednesday at city hall.
The province has ordered the city to complete the job - which involves sucking up about 22,000 tonnes of sewage-laced sludge - by Dec. 31.
The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks issued the order after The Spectator revealed in 2019 the city had kept the magnitude of a four-year, 24-billion-litre sewage spill under wraps.
The Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI) - which represents the confederacy chiefs, the hereditary leaders of Six Nations - requested the monitors after the city's contractor deposited the dredger into the creek on Aug. 22.
The city hasn't consulted with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy on the project - despite staff's assertions to the contrary - nor has it received its consent, HDI member Aaron Detlor argued Wednesday.
That's a tenet of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which also underpins the city's urban Indigenous strategy, Detlor told council.
I said a year ago this is not going to proceed if you keep going down this road and ignoring your own policies. We are going to be there to exercise treaty rights."
That has involved visits to the bridge leading to the dredging prep site at Kay Drage Park, to which the contractor has blocked public access. Trevor Riley Bomberry, confederacy treaty liaison, has also attended as interim monitor.
But Detlor, with Bomberry looking on in the council chambers, disputed a staff report that observed HDI members blocked access" to the bridge, clarifying he'd parked his car there but moved it after being asked.
The report also wrongly suggested they'd mount a demonstration at the site if the work resumed, he added.
We never threatened to protest. We never threatened to blockade. These are dog-whistle words designed to incite fear and designed to allow punitive damages and the use of force against Indigenous people."
A subsequent legal missive sent to councillors on HDI's behalf echoed Detlor's remarks, demanding the city retract false, misleading and defamatory" statements in the report.
To clarify, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy is not opposed to the subject of the project, however, even laudable undertakings cannot run roughshod over established treaty rights or constitutional obligations," lawyer Tim Gilbert wrote.
Khan told reporters that city staff stand behind what's in the report" and intend to keep safety paramount" for the general public, the contractor and potential protesters throughout the project.
With that in mind, public works hopes dredging can start as soon as it develops a site safety plan to allow the work to proceed while accommodating" possible demonstrators.
Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions, the city's consultant on the Chedoke file, advises dredging must start by Sept. 22 to meet the ministry's end-of-December deadline. Not doing so could land fines, unless an extension is granted.
Meanwhile, staff peg the cost of delayed work at $15,000 per day with the contractor, Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc., on standby.
The city says it has also reached out to the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Huron-Wendat Nation and Six Nations of the Grand River, through the elected council's land and resources department, to consult on the Chedoke project.
But staff note efforts to reach an agreement with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy through the HDI - which has flagged concerns about the city's consultation efforts on other projects - have failed so far.
The hope is to somehow get to that middle ground and make sure that we have common understanding on how we move forward," Khan said in an interview. We've tried to do that."
The city has also asked the province for guidance on the matter, but in a Sept. 2 letter, a ministry official said the municipality is responsible for the creek's remediation and well positioned" to address the HDI's concerns.
On Wednesday, Detlor told city politicians at general issues committee that receiving consent involves submitting an application for the HDI to review the Chedoke project. Such studies typically carry fees of $3,000 to $5,000, he said.
They can lead to HDI-employed monitors - who specialize in construction, environmental and archeological matters - observing projects for chiefs and clan mothers, Detlor said. Our monitors are actively engaged."
The entire process for the Chedoke project would range from $10,000 to $20,000, Detlor estimated, and advised the city adopt this arrangement for all public works projects. Let's get down to some real reconciliation."
Coun. Judi Partridge thanked Detlor for his persistence" in addressing city politicians, adding, I do believe we need to take action."
Likewise, Coun. Nrinder Nann said he'd offered a path forward," adding the city has a duty and obligation to undo what we've done in the past."
After discussing confidential appendices in closed session, councillors voted unanimously to continue consulting with First Nations throughout the Chedoke initiative. They also asked public works to hash out agreements for Indigenous monitors.
Their direction awaits final approval at council next week.
When we actually sit down and talk about it, and we try to move foward with it, it's going to come down to what's on the paper," Khan told reporters.
But he said the city can't immediately commit to a wide-reaching public works HDI application process, as Detlor suggested, due to the outgoing council's limited approval authority at the tail-end of the term.
Such a system doesn't seem to be practical," Khan said, but added it could be part of the discussions as we move forward."
Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com