Raw sewage reported on Toronto street after city frees trapped boring machine

Some west end Toronto residents say raw sewage and subway noise have increased on their street now that the city has finally removed a boring machine that was stuck underground for 19 months.

Residents say the smell, mess and noise have intensified on Old Mill Drive near Bloor Street West since Oct. 11, when crews rescued the last section of the boring machine trapped 18 metres beneath their neighbourhood.

The city says it is investigating.

City staff are trying to determine the cause of the odour and backup using CCTV cameras in sanitary sewers in the area between Bloor Street West and Etienne Brule Park. The city says staff are also flushing and cleaning the sanitary sewer system. 

Tanya Boswick, a local resident, said on Monday that raw sewage has overflowed from sanitary sewers onto the street on five different occasions in the last week alone, leaving a terrible mess and a smell. She said the sewage runs directly into the Humber River, at the bottom of the street, and eventually flows into Lake Ontario.

Boswick called the situation an environmental 'disaster' that is causing health and safety hazards.

"When these sewage overflows happen, it's very obvious. You can come to the sanitary sewers right here and water will just be pouring out at a very high volume, at a very quick rate," she said.

"You see visible excrement. You see toilet paper. You see human waste coming up. You smell it. It smells like a bathroom. And you watch it flow down the street. It's flowing again directly into the Humber River. There's wildlife there, people fishing. And that flows into Lake Ontario, which is the city's primary drinking water source."

Boswick said residents call 311 whenever there is an incident of raw sewage overflowing. Some residents on the west side of the street say they are experiencing sewage backups in their basements, she added.

"Those of us that have dogs and children, we walk through this neighbourhood every single day and we are just constantly trying to avoid the raw sewage mess that we experience," she said. 

In addition to the sight and smell of raw sewage on the street, there is amplified subway noise and vibration, she said.

"I used to only hear it in my basement. Now I hear it in my bedroom at night," she said.

Boswick also says there has been non-stop construction, accompanying noise, vibration, movement of heavy utility vehicles up and down the street, a road closure at the top of the street, preventing access to Bloor Street West, and one side of the street is blocked for condo construction.

She believes the raw sewage and subway noise is connected to the saga of the micro-tunnelling boring machine. The unpleasantness is "negative consequences" from the rescue of the machine, she added.