council

Tuesday December 17, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 17, 2019

A ‘betrayal’ of the City of Hamilton — Ontario pulls out of LRT

Doug Ford’s Tory government abruptly cancelled Hamilton’s LRT project Monday blaming billions of dollars in budget overruns — then teased $1 billion in transportation makeup cash, instead.

Hamilton LRT Gallery

Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney gave up on a public announcement of the bombshell news after a crowd of residents and council members — including Mayor Fred Eisenberger — crashed a downtown Hamilton press briefing.

A visibly upset Eisenberger then took over proceedings and told the crowd the Tory government had killed the long-planned project in a “betrayal of the City of Hamilton.”

The mayor pointed out Premier Doug Ford publicly committed to the project — with the memorable quote “he wants an LRT, he’s going to get an LRT” — just weeks after the pro-light rail mayor won a convincing municipal election victory in late 2018.

“That was a lie and they’ve been angling to cut this project ever since,” Eisenberger said.

In a phone call Monday, Mulroney said she understood she was delivering “difficult news,” but emphasized the province cannot forge ahead with a project it now believes will cost $5.5 billion over 30 years.

The minister also reiterated the province’s $1-billion commitment to transportation in the city remains — but details are so far scarce on what the money could be spent on and who makes the decision.

December 7, 2019

Mulroney acknowledged the “anger and frustration” of residents who only nine months ago heard former Tory transportation minister Jeff Yurek announce the $1-billion LRT was “good to go forward” after a funding freeze described as a delay to study project viability.

Hamilton Chamber of Commerce head Keanin Loomis said he gave the Tory government “so much credit” for publicly sticking with the Liberal-approved project back in March. “I don’t know now if they knew at that point that they were going to do a bait-and-switch, but regardless, it is devastating for the economy in Hamilton,” he said.

Developer and union vice-president Joe Mancinelli said the project meant “thousands of jobs” to local construction workers and spurred LIUNA to start building two different towers along the route. “These are decisions that were (based) on a commitment that was made by the provincial government,” he said.

Mulroney said the incoming PC government was indeed concerned about the LRT budget from the get-go in 2018, but opted to get an independent cost estimate “to see if we could (still) deliver the project.”

Provincial officials forwarded to journalists a summarized page of “expert third-party” cost estimates that suggest the “total costs of the LRT” — including construction, financing and 30 years of operations and maintenance — had ballooned to $5.5 billion. (Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Saturday December 7, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday December 7, 2019

With Sewergate, too many Hamilton councillors still don’t get it

“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”

That line, borrowed from the classic 1967 Paul Newman movie “Cool Hand Luke,” can actually be applied to the situation that continues to fester in Hamilton. Yes, we’re talking about Sewergate.

November 26, 2019

Another way to put it would be that we have a fundamental disconnect. And another: They just don’t get it.

We’re referring to the gulf that now exists between most members of Hamilton city council and the constituents who elected them. Those same constituents who are still talking and writing about Sewergate. In barbershops and salons, in coffee shops and bars. Chances are, if you go to a place where people congregate and talk, this is one of the things they’ll be talking about.

The number of published letters to the editor is now officially a record in modern memory. And those are just the ones suitable for print. Many others were not, for reasons of length, language or extreme viewpoints. And they keep coming, although they’ve slowed now to a handful each day. We will continue to print them where appropriate, but they’ll be mixed with letters on other subjects to reflect a fair balance of what readers are saying.

The point is, Hamilton citizens, in record numbers, show no interest in getting over this. They are, by and large, unsatisfied. They want to see some action. They want to see consequences. Like what? Spectator city columnist Andrew Dreschel will explore that question in a column coming Monday.

November 23, 2019

At any rate, that’s the citizen/taxpayer/constituent side of the equation. Far on the other side of that perception gulf are the members of council who apparently still don’t see what all the fuss is about. They are content to stick with their original defence: They had legal advice that said they would be putting taxpayers at more risk by disclosing the 24-billion litre sewage leak into Chedoke Creek and Cootes Paradise. Armed with that advice, they decided, repeatedly, that they should not inform the public about the spill. Not that it was much larger than originally reported. Not that the contamination took place over four and a half years.

Not that at one point E. coli levels in Chedoke Creek spiked to 900 times higher than safe levels for paddling. That’s 9,000 times higher than the threshold for safe swimming.

They say they intended to report to the public once the provincial investigation into the leak was complete. When would that have been? No one knows. The Spectator reported on the leak two weeks ago, but this council knew about it for nine months before that. How much longer would Sewergate have remained secret had The Spec not reported on it?

November 27, 2019

Here is what many city councillors just don’t get. They are sorry, they say, that the leak happened. Good for them. We’re all sorry. Probably the people involved with the original mistake are sorry. Everyone and their dog is sorry the accident happened, and was not detected for a ridiculous period of time.

But that’s not what most people are most angry about. It’s the failure to disclose that’s driving people nuts. Too many councillors don’t seem to get that secrecy has justifiably rattled peoples’ trust in city hall. Yes, because of the spill. But more so because if something like this happens again, how can citizens feel confident they will get appropriate disclosure?

Some councillors say Sewergate is a media-generated event. Fair enough. We’re not going to dignify that with a response. But we would recommend that at minimum, these councillors, who seem increasingly insulated from public opinion, take some time and find out how people are really feeling. They might want to start trying to bridge that perception gulf. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Wednesday November 27, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 27, 2019

City probes who leaked secret reports to The Spec

November 26, 2019

As if leaking sewage wasn’t enough, now Hamilton council is targeting information leaks.

According to sources, councillors have directed staff to launch an investigation into who gave The Hamilton Spectator confidential city reports on the massive discharge of untreated sewage into Chedoke Creek.

City spokesperson Jasmine Graham declined to comment.

“Conversations with respect to the Chedoke Creek issue were held in closed session. With that, unfortunately we’re not able to share what if anything was discussed.”

But reliable sources say directions given in camera to staff include conducting an internal probe plus the option of consulting Hamilton police.

The secret reports obtained by The Spec revealed that the provincial government is investigating the spill of 24-billion litres of sewage over more than four years, which could lead to charges and significant fines against the city.

November 29, 2019

The media previously reported on the July 2018 spill. But council, based on strategic legal advice, withheld the two reports detailing the full extent of the disaster from the public.

When The Spec informed city officials on Wednesday that it had obtained the January and September reports, councillors discussed the issue behind closed doors.

During those discussions, senior staff was told to try to find out who breached the rules which prohibit members of council and employees from disclosing confidential information without proper authorization.

Coun. Terry Whitehead wasn’t at the meeting but he strongly supports an investigation.

“Conversations with respect to the Chedoke Creek issue were held in closed session. With that, unfortunately we’re not able to share what if anything was discussed.”

But reliable sources say directions given in camera to staff include conducting an internal probe plus the option of consulting Hamilton police.

The secret reports obtained by The Spec revealed that the provincial government is investigating the spill of 24-billion litres of sewage over more than four years, which could lead to charges and significant fines against the city.

The media previously reported on the July 2018 spill. But council, based on strategic legal advice, withheld the two reports detailing the full extent of the disaster from the public.

When The Spec informed city officials on Wednesday that it had obtained the January and September reports, councillors discussed the issue behind closed doors.

During those discussions, senior staff was told to try to find out who breached the rules which prohibit members of council and employees from disclosing confidential information without proper authorization.

Coun. Terry Whitehead wasn’t at the meeting but he strongly supports an investigation. (Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Tuesday November 26, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday November 26, 2019

Hamilton city council, staff have kept a 24-billion litre sewage spill secret

A confidential city report shows councillors have known since January that 24 billion litres of untreated sewage escaped undetected over a four-year period from a massive sewer overflow tank into Chedoke Creek, which runs along Highway 403 into Cootes Paradise.

November 23, 2019

The watery sewage — enough to fill 10,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, or an area of 12 square kilometres to a depth of two metres — seeped out of the tank because a gate had been left partially open for more than four years.

The confidential report to council on Jan. 16, along with a second one on Sept. 4, show city staff have been recommending that details of the spill be kept secret from the public as long as possible because of potential legal action the city could face.

The two reports, obtained by The Hamilton Spectator, state Ontario’s environment ministry is investigating the massive spill, which could lead to charges.

Neither the remediation work or any fine levied would be covered by the city’s insurance, according to the reports.

The Spectator informed the city it had obtained two confidential reports and submitted a number of questions Wednesday morning to councillor Lloyd Ferguson, chair of the public works committee. Late Wednesday morning, council went in camera to discuss The Spectator’s questions.

Several councillors, including Ferguson, declined to comment when they emerged from the in-camera session.

March 28, 2009

About an hour later, in response to The Spectator’s questions, the city put out a press release acknowledging publicly for the first time that approximately 24 billion litres of watery sewage had been discharged because a gate at the King Street West tank had been left partially open for 4.5 years.

“Hamilton city council takes this matter very seriously and today is sharing additional information that has become available based on the city’s investigations,” the press release stated.

Lynda Lukasik, executive director of Environment Hamilton, said the long-standing discharge from the overflow tank “is shocking.”

“That’s a brutal impact on Cootes Paradise and Hamilton Harbour,” said Lukasik. “Those (overflow) tanks are just a Band-Aid solution.”

“The City of Hamilton better have a good plan going forward to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she added.

The two confidential reports were prepared jointly by the city’s public works department and the legal and risk management services division of the corporate services department.

The reports state the city was unaware that a bypass gate at the King Street West overflow tank across from the Cathedral of Christ the King had been left partially open from Jan. 28, 2014, until July 18, 2018, allowing untreated sewage to flow into the creek for 1,633 days.

During heavy rainfall, a combined sewer overflow tank captures a mix of rainwater and sewage that would previously have flowed untreated into Cootes Paradise, the harbour or the lake. Once the wet weather subsides, the overflow can be pumped from the tank to the main sewage treatment plant at Woodward Avenue. (Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Saturday November 23, 2019

November 23, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday November 23, 2019

Hamilton sewage scandal: What happened, and why was it kept secret?

Last week, The Spectator revealed Hamilton city council knew in January about a massive sewage spill into Chedoke Creek but kept the details secret.

Here’s a surface-scraping primer on the scandal so far.

February 26, 2008

An overflow tank gate was left partly open for four-and-a-half years, releasing an estimated 24 billion litres of raw sewage into Chedoke Creek, which flows into Cootes Paradise, between January 2014 and July 2018.

Confidential city reports leaked to The Spectator note staff don’t know why the gate was left open or who did it. A separate gate mishap between January and July 2018 caused 30 per cent of the mess.

The full magnitude of the big leak was discovered after citizen complaints of stench in the area in July 2018.

What’s a combined sewer overflow tank?

Hamilton has nine large tanks that hold wastewater until it can be deposited into the Woodward Avenue treatment plant.

The tank in question, called the Main/King tank, was built in the 1990s and holds 75,000 cubic metres. It’s located at Cathedral Park at 707 King St. W.

“The automated monitoring systems at the CSO tank did not detect the discharge, nor was the discharge visible to staff during monthly facility inspections,” the city’s confidential documents note.

What about the watershed?

June 24, 2015

The July 2018 spill was a “huge setback,” said Tys Theijsmeijer, the Royal Botanical Gardens’ head of natural areas.

“Basically, all the oxygen was sucked out of the water, the algae growth was rampant … and so many plants, like water lilies, were just wiped out.”

The city didn’t tell the RBG, which is the steward of Cootes Paradise, the full volume and duration of the problem, however.

More than 240,000 litres of “floatable material” was removed from the surface of Chedoke Creek and taken to the Woodward Avenue plant.

The city faces a Feb. 14, 2020 deadline to submit an ecological risk assessment and, possibly, a remediation plan for Chedoke Creek. The confidential city reports suggest dredging the creek could cost $2 million.

What did the city tell (and not tell) the public?

July 16, 2014

The city told the public about the spill in July 2018 and posted warning signs around the popular paddling spot, but the full magnitude of the disaster was kept under wraps.

Staff and outside legal counsel advised council against publicizing the estimated 24-billion-litre volume and more-than-four-year span, as well as releasing consulting reports.

The rationale was that doing so could expose the city to financial risk amid a Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks investigation with potential fines of as high as $6 million.

What’s the political fallout?

Councillors say they opted for secrecy to protect taxpayers from financial liability, citing the legal advice they received.

All members of council voted in favour of confidentiality, but three councillors — Nrinder Nann, Maureen Wilson and John-Paul Danko — also cast dissenting votes at various times.

Nann and Wilson have since called for a public apology and the release of all documentation.

But councillors have also directed staff to investigate who gave The Spectator the confidential reports, sources say.

The sewage scandal has also made waves at Queen’s Park with NDP MPP Sandy Shaw (Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas) scolding the ministry for not telling residents about the full extent of the leak. (Hamilton Spectator)