Hamilton says Six Nations visitors in canoes have blocked the cleanup of Chedoke Creek

The city says the cleanup of sewage-ravaged Chedoke Creek is being prevented by regular canoe trips into the dredging area by members of a Haudenosaunee group who say they are exercising treaty rights.

The province ordered a cleanup in the west-end creek in 2019 after The Spectator revealed the city had kept secret the magnitude of a four-year, 24-billion-litre sewage spill.

A $6-million project to vacuum pollution out of the creek was supposed to start in August - but work has largely been on hold ever since representatives of Six Nations hereditary chiefs called on the city to consult and seek consent for the proposal, citing Indigenous treaty rights.

Spokesperson Aaron Detlor renewed that call in a critical opinion piece accusing the city of ignoring treaty rights recently published in The Spectator.

Work was supposed to start last week - but the city says repeated visits to the work site by individuals purporting to be associated with the Haudenosaunee Development Institute have made it impossible to proceed" for safety reasons.

Late last week, individuals set up a tent and started a campfire beside the beached dredging machine and stayed there until Tuesday, according to a written update to councillors.

The tent and firepit have since been removed, but individuals are also paddling into the dredging area in a canoe and in some cases tying a vessel to machinery. In each case, the individuals have said they are exercising treaty rights.

But if you do that right near heavy machinery, we can't operate that machinery," said city spokesperson Matthew Grant. Similarly, he said dredging cannot safely happen if visitors are paddling in the area or visiting without safety gear.

The Spectator has reached out to Detlor for comment.

But late last month, the lawyer for HDI, Tim Gilbert, wrote a letter criticizing the city's mischaracterization" of the group's position. HDI has never stated that it would, nor did it, block access to the site, prevent any dredging work, or cause a work stoppage," he wrote in the Sept. 24 letter.

The city has previously warned if dredging did not start in early October it may not meet the end-of-year provincial deadline to complete the cleanup.

Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com