Sewer smell in Upper Stoney Creek ‘horrific,’ says area councillor

Ward 9 Coun. Brad Clark says odours from the city’s new trunk sewer in Upper Stoney Creek are “horrific” and “taking away the peaceful enjoyment of people’s properties.”

During the last heatwave, Clark says “a lot of residents were complaining that they couldn’t sit in their backyards” because of the overpowering smell.

Clark raised the issue on behalf of those residents during Wednesday’s meeting of Hamilton City Council.

Dan McKinnon, Hamilton’s general manager of public works, says staff are aware of the problem and are in the midst of studying the issue.

McKinnon adds that the study isn’t expected to be complete until “closer to the end of summer.”

In the meantime, he says he’ll meet with his operating team and see whether “there’s an opportunity to do some flushing in that sewer on a regular basis, in a manner that won’t inhibit the study, but will also try to bring some relief to residents in the area.”

The new trunk sewer was built to accommodate growth in Upper Stoney Creek and Glanbrook.

McKinnon adds that the issue arose shortly after it was commissioned.

Clark says “it’s ironic, I finally get the odour shut down from the cannabis farm that was in the area, and now we have off-letting gases from a municipal sewer that are causing just as much problem.”