Sewage leak into Red River slows after 2nd pump installed, City of Winnipeg says

A sewage leak that has dumped hundreds of millions of litres of untreated sewage into the Red River has slowed dramatically after crews installed a second pump on a bypass system, the City of Winnipeg says.

Thursday's update on the city's website shows about 300,000 litres of sewage spilled out of the broken pipe near the Fort Garry Bridge over the last 24 hours.

That's a fraction of the nearly seven million litres that poured into the river the previous day.

In total, the leak has spilled 228.4 million litres of sewage into the river since it began on Feb. 7.

At Thursday's city council meeting, Coun. Russ Wyatt brought forward a motion calling on the province to fine the city $4 for every litre spilled — $913,600,000 in total.

"I'm saying that until the City of Winnipeg starts to actually actively get its house in order with regard to the sewage spills, we have to be accountable. And right now we're not," Wyatt told reporters at city hall.

That motion, which will be debated at the water and waste committee next month, took mayor Scott Gillingham by surprise.

"Surprised would be an understatement," he said in a news conference at city hall. 

"To ask the province to fine [the city] close to a billion dollars is, I don't think, responsible."

Manitoba Environment Minister Tracy Schmidt said her department has started an investigation into the leak with the environmental compliance and enforcement branch.

The city reports events like this to federal and provincial regulators, and has been posting regularly about it on the city's website since it began, Driedger said.

The city had already started work on a temporary bypass system at that point, after a routine inspection in November found issues with the two pipes that cross underneath the Red River near the Fort Garry Bridge and carry sewage to the South End Sewage Treatment Plant.

One pipe was taken out of service at that point. However, the remaining working pipe failed on Feb. 7 — sooner than expected, according to city officials.

Work was sped up on the bypass system, the city said, but until Wednesday, only one of the two pumps needed for that system was running. 

The city said Thursday that following mechanical repairs, the second pump was installed Wednesday evening.

"Although it's hard to determine how much water conservation efforts have helped reduce spill amounts, the less water our customers put down the drain, the less sewage flows to the bypass system," Driedger wrote in an email.

WATCH | Here's how the temporary bypass system works:

A look at the temporary system carrying sewage across Winnipeg's Red River

11 months ago

Duration 2:08

Drone footage shows the Fort Garry Bridge area where untreated sewage is leaking into the Red River after an underwater pipe broke. Tim Shanks, the City of Winnipeg's water and waste director, explains the temporary system set up on the bridge.

The city is still asking residents in southwest Winnipeg to reduce their water use to limit flows into the bypass system, while crews work to improve its reliability.

The request applies to the neighbourhoods of St. Norbert, Fort Richmond, Richmond West, Waverley West, Bridgwater, Linden Woods, Linden Ridge, Whyte Ridge and Waverley Heights, as well as the University of Manitoba's Fort Garry campus.

Wyatt called for an assessment of all the city's sewer pipes that cross waterways.

The city has 46 sewer crossings and 34 water crossings all of which are considered "high-risk," due to the difficulty of monitoring, assessing and repairing them. The city has assessed these assets for more than 20 years, and those assessments are used in capital project planning, Driedger said.

Downstream impacts

Wyatt said part of the reason for his motion was concern over the environmental impacts of the spill, concerns echoed by leaders in communities north of Winnipeg.

Chief Gordon Bluesky of Brokenhead First Nation said his members fish on Lake Winnipeg. He said no one from the city or province reached out to inform him about the spill. 

He questioned governments' commitment to reconciliation "if this is the reality that we're sitting here facing, of having this amount of raw sewage being dumped into our waterways and not one individual from either administration has reached out."

The city works with Lake Winnipeg Foundation and Lake Winnipeg Indigenous Collective for input on downstream watershed issues, which review and provide input on upgrade plans, Driedger said.

Gillingham said there had been no "direct dialogue" with other communities about the spill.

Pollution from wastewater has been linked to toxic algae blooms on Lake Winnipeg, which suck oxygen out of the water, choking plant and animal life. 

Richard Grosshans is the bioremediation lead with International Institute for Sustainable Development.

"We have to figure out what impact that's going to have on the larger system," he said in an interview.

"Wastewater is never good to put into your river, in your lake. So, now we have to figure out how bad this impact could be."

As sewage leak slows, councillor wants province to hit Winnipeg with hefty fine for polluting Red River

11 months ago

Duration 2:00

A sewage leak that has dumped hundreds of millions of litres of untreated sewage into the Red River has slowed dramatically after crews installed a second pump on a bypass system, the City of Winnipeg says. Meanwhile, Coun. Russ Wyatt brought forward a motion calling on the province to fine the city $4 for every litre spilled — $913,600,000 in total.