Dredging Targeted at Hamilton’s Chedoke Creek to Begin Mid-Summer – Hamilton | The Canadian News

A variety of environmental permits from higher levels of government are still needed, but specific dredging of Chedoke Creek is still expected to begin this summer.

City staff say they plan to begin restoration work in July, between the Kay Drage Park Bridge and the point where the creek empties into Cootes Paradise Swamp.

The plan, presented to city councilors on Wednesday, calls for a machine to suck up to 10,000 cubic meters of contaminated sediment from the waterway by the end of 2022.

The targeted dredging follows the spill of 24 billion liters of sewage and raw sewage into Chedoke Creek from a combined sewage overflow tank between 2014 and 2018.

“You won’t be able to recover the entire nutrient load during the specific dredging process,” warns Cari Vanderperk, director of watershed management for Hamilton.

“We’re not going to dredge for dredge’s sake to remove equivalent load,” adds Vanderperk, “we’re focusing on those areas where we’ve found value to remove.”

The city has set aside $20 million for cleanup efforts in Chedoke Creek and Cootes Paradise, and Ward 1 Coun. Maureen Wilson looks forward to seeing the progress.

“Forty-seven tons of total phosphorus, 312 tons of total nitrogen, that’s the impact,” says Wilson. “I think we have to do the right thing for this biosphere, I think we have to do the right thing for our community, and I think we have to do the right thing for our reputation.”