WINNIPEG — Winnipeg’s water and waste department confirmed five million litres of untreated sewage, spread over nine days, has been dumped into the Red River.
The location of the culvert where the sewage was re-directed is at St. John’s Park, at the intersection of Main Street and Mountain Avenue.
According to the city, the leak was due to a blockage in the collection system and reported to have began on January 10. A city crew fixed the blockage on January 19.
A local resident, Craig Tulloch, who lives close to the culvert, first identified a “strong smell of sewage” on January 16. He said he noticed open water running in an area of the river that had largely frozen over.
Tulloch and his family went to check on the area on January 19, when the smell had not gone away, and noticed the flowing water was raw sewage. He then reported the leak to 311, Winnipeg’s service request line.
Tulloch said he was “taken aback that there’s no detection system” that made the city aware of the problem before a citizen was the first to report on it.
The city may now face fines due to the incident.
More to come.
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