Hamilton pauses dredging work in Chedoke Creek to consult with Haudenosaunee group

Hamilton is pausing its dredging work in Chedoke Creek to consult with the Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI) about how the work may impact treaty rights and the environment.

HDI recently said it asked the city for meaningful consultation about the clean-up efforts but the work went ahead anyway. The clean-up had been ordered by the province after a spill of 24 billion litres of sewage and stormwater into the creek. 

"City staff are continuing to meet and discuss options with all key stakeholders to determine best way forward that enables the City to meet the [province's] requirements under the order," read a release from the city Wednesday.

HDI lawyer Aaron Detlor says that the group is representing the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council, the traditional leaders of the Haudenosaunee people.

As their treaty lands cover a large portion of Ontario, including Hamilton, Aaron Detlor says the city ought to consult HDI.

The spill was the result of a valve on the city's combined sewer overflow system left open between 2014 and 2018, causing a layer of biohazardous sediment to settle at the bottom of the creek. 

The Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks ordered the clean up and the city hired Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc. to complete the work for just under $6 million.

The city said the work that is now paused was in preparation for the targeted dredge work that was set to start in late August.

HDI representatives visited the dredging site at Kay Drage Park off Macklin Street North last week to watch for environmental concerns. The city said HDI representatives also visited on Monday, saying they were exercising treaty rights. It then said it would send its own environmental monitors throughout the process, due to the lack of consultation. 

The city said previously it has been in consultation with local First Nations communities about the work, but it's unclear which Indigenous communities were consulted.

"City staff have also been working with HDI regarding their request for an Environmental Monitoring Agreement with the HDI for the project, and those efforts are ongoing," the city statement said.

It's unclear when the work will resume.

Detlor previously told CBC he has no plans to block the dredging but needs the city "to help us understand what's going on here so we can explain it to people who have questions."