Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

water meter usage data

City of Hamilton says 59 million more litres of wastewater flowed into Lake Ontario

City of Hamilton says 59 million more litres of wastewater flowed into Lake Ontario

The City of Hamilton says roughly 59 million litres of sewage had flowed from 11 homes near Rutherford Avenue and Myrtle Avenue straight into Lake Ontario since 1996. "City staff developed this estimate based on the water meter usage data from the 11 properties connected to the combined sewer pipe," reads a release, which adds this method was identified as the most accurate way to represent the discharge. The city confirmed the sewage leak on Monday during a risk-based proactive inspection program prompted by a separate, 337-million-litre sewage spill discovered in late November.

Hamilton estimates 337 million litres of sewage spilled into harbourfront since 1996

Hamilton estimates 337 million litres of sewage spilled into harbourfront since 1996

The City of Hamilton estimates 337 million litres of sewage — roughly 135 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of sewage — flowed into the harbour since 1996. That's roughly 13 million litres per year for 26 years. "City staff developed this estimate based on the water meter usage data for all of the properties connected to the combined sewer pipe," read a media release from the city on Monday morning, adding this method was identified as the most accurate way to represent the discharge over the 26 years.

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