Hamilton city crews&nbsp;are using a drone to&nbsp;map&nbsp;Chedoke Creek, Princess Point and the eastern shoreline of Cootes Paradise as part of an effort to clean up after a four-year, 24 billion-litre spill of sewage and stormwater&nbsp;there.

The city says it's doing&nbsp;the work, as well as sediment testing,&nbsp;to prepare for the&nbsp;clean up and dredging the ministry ordered.&nbsp;

That&nbsp;order said the city needed to remediate the area Oct. 31, 2021, but the city has previously said it&nbsp;probably won't meet the province's deadline.

In a media release Friday, the city said&nbsp;the drone will help pick&nbsp;specific locations and details for future dredging, while the testing will show the&nbsp;chemical composition within each layer of sediment.

Royal Botanical Gardens says 'considerable sewage' still spilling into Cootes Paradise

The city of Hamilton is awaiting tests from water at Princess Point after concerns about potential sewage in the water. Hamilton Water said it isn't sewage, it's just algae, but Royal Botanical Gardens and Environment Hamilton say it is still cause for concern because of the spill at Chedoke Creek.

Some of the water at Princess Point has a dark green and brow algae floating on top of it. The city says the algae is harmless, despite concerns it is an indication Hamilton's water is still suffering after a massive spill into Chedoke Creek.

Princess Point

Some of the water at Princess Point has a dark green and brown algae floating on top of it. The city says the algae is harmless, despite concerns it is an indication Hamilton's water is still suffering after a massive spill into Chedoke Creek.

City says it can't meet the province's deadline for cleaning up Chedoke Creek

The City of Hamilton's projected timeline for dredging Chedoke Creek — after 24 billion litres of sewage and stormwater entered the water over four years — probably won't meet the province's deadline. 

The city has released 10 formerly confidential reports about the spill into Chedoke Creek, revealing new details of the more than four-year leak for the first time.

Chedoke Creek

There is no date outlined for the final design on how the city will dredge Chedoke Creek. Once it starts, construction is expected to take four to six months to complete. 

The issue dates back to January 2014, when a bypass gate at the city's combined sewer overflow (CSO) tank at Main and King streets was left partially open.

For four years, the city says, that went undetected. In that time, 24 billion litres entered&nbsp;Chedoke Creek, which&nbsp;flows into Cootes Paradise and Hamilton Harbour.&nbsp;

Following a ministry investigation into the leak, the province charged the city.&nbsp;

A court summons&nbsp;dated Dec. 8, 2020, outlines the charges,&nbsp;which are both linked to causing or permitting raw sewage to be discharged.

The city says a drone will map the area ahead of a cleanup of Chedoke Creek, where 24 billion litres of sewage and stormwater leaked into the water over four years. 

City using drone to map Chedoke Creek and doing sediment testing to prepare for dredging

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