Eleven homes had been flushing directly into Hamilton Harbour since mid-’90s

The city was about halfway through a sewer inspection checklist of nearly 300 potential trouble spots in the wake of November's discovery of a 26-year-old sewage leak when they found another spill.

Shane McCauley, a manager in the city's water division, told reporters Tuesday at the site of the latest leak on Rutherford Avenue that it has inspected 150 of 292 potential problem areas between James Street and Ottawa Street.

He said the risk-based" locations were identified based on areas where underground pipes that flow flushed sewage and those that are supposed to flow only storm water are close together.

The proactive camera inspections started following news late last year that a hole in a sanitary sewer under Burlington Street had been dumping sewage from homes into a storm runoff pipe that led to Hamilton Harbour since 1996.

Workers found a questionable Rutherford Avenue connection on Saturday, confirmed it on Sunday and took immediate action to stop the leak with sandbags and a vacuum truck. A permanent fix is being worked on.

Based on preliminary reviews, the city says a combined sewer was connected to a newly constructed storm sewer under Rutherford in 1996 - which means 11 homes had been flushing directly into Hamilton Harbour.

The November spill prompted Environment Minister David Piccini to say he would order an audit of Hamilton's sewer system for more bad connections. The city's proactive approach is targeted toward maintenance holes and sewer connections they think would be more likely to have a potential problem.

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