Wolseley residents cry foul over sewage leak

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This article was published 18/03/2022 (916 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WOLSELEY residents were left with more questions in the wake of raw sewage again finding its way into Omand’s Creek and into the Assiniboine River.

The outflow, which came during a sewer pipe repair, was seen — and smelled — by residents Thursday.

Marianne Cerilli, past-chairwoman of the Wolseley Residents’ Association, said it is disappointing to hear about the latest leak.

“I think we need more attention to the whole issue of combined sewers,” Cerilli said Friday.

“It sounds like with the repairs they were doing, they had a plan to contain the runoff and they underestimated how much runoff there would be when the snow melted.”

Cerilli said until the City of Winnipeg is able to split the wastewater sewage pipe system from the rainwater sewer pipe system, it needs to think about other ways to prevent runoff from getting into area rivers and streams.

“It’s making sure people have things like rain barrels and green roofs and re-greening areas with lots of concrete, so snow can melt into the ground.”

The city should look into what it would cost to remove excess snow from some areas which have combined catch basins, so it can melt elsewhere instead of resulting in sewage getting into the rivers, she added.

Cerilli said residents had already planned to hold a public meeting April 20 with city officials about issues surrounding the combined sewer system because of a leak last year.

A smelly black sludge littered with bathroom waste slowly came out of a city sewer pipe Feb. 22, 2021, abruptly covering community-built skating trails, rinks and walking trails near the Assiniboine River.

The city said at the time the spill wasn’t by accident, but by “the system functioning normally in response to the snow melt.”

This week’s spill was different.

City spokeswoman Lisa Marquardson said it originated from a nearby sewer pipe repair.

Marquardson said the Omand’s Creek combined sewer interceptor pipe is being replaced between Raglan Road and the Empress Street East overpass. While the work is being done, pumping is in place to bypass the wastewater collection system. Interceptor pipes carry sewage in the combined sewer system to the north end treatment plant during dry weather conditions.

Marquardson said the sewage got out Wednesday afternoon.

“Rain and snow melt have caused elevated flows in the wastewater collection system within the city,” she said in a statement.

“Flows overwhelmed the temporary pumping resulting in an overflow into the construction area at Omand’s Creek. Although most of the flow was contained at the construction site, excess flow was diverted upstream of the site into the Assiniboine River in order to reduce the impact on traffic and the construction site. Flows will continue to be diverted from the collection system when they exceed temporary pumping capacity until the sewer work is complete.”

Marquardson said the city expects the work to be completed by Monday.

She said snow melt can lead to overflows in the combined sewer system because they are designed to send excess overflow into the rivers instead of backing up into basements.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca