City says faulty illustration may be partly to blame for 26-year sewage spill into Hamilton Harbour

Less than a day after announcing the discovery of a 26-year sewage leak into Hamilton's harbour, city staff say a faulty drawing may be partly to blame. 

Director of Hamilton Water Nick Winters said Wednesday an incorrect illustration was given to contractors, which led to a hole being made into a combined sewage pipe in 1996. 

"It looks like the individuals involved in that project, were mistakenly thinking that they were dealing with two storm sewers … Unfortunately, that's not the case," Winters said, speaking to reporters near the corner of Wentworth Street North and Burlington Street East.

The area in Ward 3 was where the hole was discovered Tuesday.

Winters said the city doesn't yet know who the contractors were but is confident that the city will be able to track them down, he said.

The city reported the sewage spill to reporters for the first time Tuesday evening, saying it was discovered earlier that day when staff were reviewing video shot from inside the pipes in 2013. 

Staff was reviewing the footage after a request from the engineering team, Winters said.

"They asked us to look into some condition or characteristics in this area. Not sure the purpose of that yet. My suspicion is that it was likely to to help plan some upcoming infrastructure renewal work."

In total 39 houses are connected to the pipe — not the 50 originally believed to be, Winters said — and waste from those homes has been flowing directly into the harbour. The houses are along Macallum Street and parts of Brant Street and Wentworth Street North.

Winters said he "sincerely" hopes the leak was an anomaly. 

"Do we need to put in different programs to look for anomalies within our system? It would be difficult for me to stand in front of you and say that that's not the case."

However, the city would have to check 2,100 kilometres of sewer pipes to ensure the mistake was not made elsewhere, he added. 

James Quinn, a resident who has been living in the area for 10 years, said he's "not happy" about the spill going unnoticed for so long. 

"I would ask [the city] how it happened, you know, how is [this] allowed to happen? Was it through neglect, or incompetence, or what happened to cause this?"