Hamilton’s Chedoke Creek dredging plan approved by province

Extensive dredging will soon begin in Chedoke Creek, as part of a provincially ordered clean-up.

The City of Hamilton announced Thursday that the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation & Parks has approved its plan for the urban creek. The process of preparing a workplan for Cootes Paradise, which the creek flows into, will also begin this summer.

The dredging comes after follows the spill of 24 billion litres of sewage and untreated wastewater into the creek from a partially opened gate on a combined sewage overflow (CSO) tank between 2014 and 2018. The spill was revealed in a report by the Hamilton Spectator in late 2019, and the province ordered the clean-up last fall. The city’s project team began drone mapping the area in April to scout out the areas that will need dredging.

The city’s release notes that the ministry approval indicates that the city should take direct measures in areas around lower Chedoke Creek and Princess Point to ensure conditions are not further degraded with the coming hot and dry summer season. Those short-term measures can include small-scale aeration systems, floating vegetated mats, algal mats or decaying vegetation harvesting in areas.

The City of Hamilton has received Ministry of the Environment, Conservation & Parks (MECP) approval to implement its remediation workplan for targeted dredging in Chedoke Creek.

Release>> https://t.co/LJKRVEUbZX #HamOnt

— City of Hamilton (@cityofhamilton) June 17, 2021