A discrepancy in mapping may have been the reason behind the damaged force main and wastewater spill at the Collingwood Harbour House development over the weekend, but regardless of who is to blame, the developer intends to bear the costs.
On Friday, July 22, drilling that was occurring at the construction site for the development at 31 Huron St. struck a force main, causing significant damage resulting in approximately 1,500 cubic metres (1.5 million litres) of untreated sewage to be discharged in the area, which is adjacent to the Collingwood Harbour.
Force mains are pipelines that convey wastewater under pressure from the discharge side of a pump or pneumatic ejector to a discharge point.
About 115 cubic metres (115,000 litres) of sewage from the spill was hauled to the wastewater treatment plant and another small pump was set up to send liquids to a nearby sanitary manhole.
“There’s no question this was caused by our drill rig,” Les Mallins, president of Streetcar Developments Inc., told CollingwoodToday.ca on Wednesday. “We had starting shoring activities ... to dig out for the underground parking garage.”
Collingwood Harbour House — owned by Streetcar Developments Inc. — is a planned mixed-use development with commercial space on the ground floor and five floors of condominiums (130 units) above. Two levels of underground parking are included in the design.
Mallins said in advance of any drilling that started about three weeks ago, efforts were made to co-ordinate potential for utility interference with the drilling activities. However, he says the force main that was hit was identified in a different location under the town’s mapping of the site.
“The drawings from the town showed the force mains to be about 11 feet from the outside edge of our drilling line. It shouldn’t have been anywhere near close to us,” he said, adding the company also had private and provincial sets of locates done.
“Neither of them showed any interference, either, unfortunately,” said Mallins. “We hit it, and we worked all weekend to try to deal with it. Regardless, we’re here to take responsibility when things occur on our construction sites.”
He said the force main that was hit was mostly redundant, as there are two others adjacent to it that are able to address some of the continued flow.
As of this week, the costs of the repair and cleanup are not available.
“I can only assume that as we damaged the service that we will pay for the repair. We’re certainly not looking for a way to defray costs that were of our doing,” said Mallins. “The focus right now has been to clean up the little bit of mess that remains on the site, get the force main repaired, and then we’ll know how much it costs.
“I presume the cost of this is going to be borne by us.”
The town was notified by the developer on July 22 that the event had occurred. The Spills Action Centre, a department of the provincial Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, was notified of the event on July 24.
“The ministry is currently following up to ensure clean-up of the spill is completed and the repairs are done in a timely manner,” Lindsay Davidson, spokesperson for the ministry, told CollingwoodToday.ca on Wednesday.
“The ministry is satisfied with the steps currently being taken to repair the damaged force main. Staff will continue to monitor the situation until the repair is complete and normal operations have resumed,” he said.
According to the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, it was also notified of the event on July 24.
“As a result, the health unit advised that swim advisory signs be posted at public access points as a precautionary measure until further testing of the water is completed,” said Karen Kivilahti, program manager of safe water with the health unit.
“Results of the water tests are expected later this week. Residents are advised to avoid swimming in areas where warning signs are posted.”
As of Wednesday, the health unit had posted swim advisories at both Sunset Point East Beach and Sunset Point West Beach.
Advisories have also been posted by town staff at the promenade, Birch Street, Millennium Park and the boat launch.
“Staff tested the two beaches as Sunset Point and the pier at Millennium Park on (Tuesday) morning and are driving them to Orillia for analysis,” said Heather McGinnity, manager of environmental services with the town. “Results are expected to be ready in a couple of days. Updates will be posted when available.”
