A major storm dumped 65 mm of rain on Innisfil last weekend, leading to widespread flooding.
But some residents had to deal with more than just floodwater. Some residents on Line 6 also were faced with a backup of raw sewage into their basements.
On Jan. 15, two of those residents came to Innisfil Council, asking for an explanation, and assurances, in Open Forum.
Scott Mingay was one of those impacted by the sewage back-up. He had already contacted his insurer but wanted to know, “If I go and fix it, is this going to happen again?”
He also asked if there would be compensation, or at least a promise from the town that “it won’t happen again.”
A total of nine homes were impacted by the back-up, Mingay told Council. “Our street is filled with bins and restoration companies.”
His questions and concerns were echoed by neighbour Ludger Hegger. “If we flood again, even while we are fixing it, we are not covered,” Hegger told councillors.
He said that during the flooding, he had contacted the Town and InnServices, but “nobody got back to us.”
Council suspended the usual rules of Open Forum, to allow staff to provide a detailed update of the incident that sent sewage backing up into basements.
“There definitely was a failure of a system that relates to the wastewater sewer lines,” said Chief Administrative Officer Jason Reynar, noting that steps have been taken “to try to prevent this from ever happening again.”
Reynar also promised that the town will “work with homeowners… going forward,” on issues of compensation, but encouraged them to first contact their own insurers.
Wally Malcolm, CEO of InnServices provided a detailed explanation of the failure.
Malcolm noted that at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11, an alarm went off indicating high flows at Pumping Station 2 on Line 6. One pump was found to be clogged with rags, and had to be pulled out and cleaned, but there was also obviously infiltration of stormwater into the system, overwhelming the capacity of the station.
Average flows at the station were 32 litres per second; during the peak of the storm they reached 200 litres per second.
At least five trucks were sent in to start hauling raw sewage from the pumping station to the wastewater treatment plant – but they couldn’t keep up.
Scott MacKenzie, in the town’s department of development engineering, said that the issue appeared to be related to a sanitary sewer line in the Sleeping Lion subdivision on Line 6, in place but not hooked up to any homes.
“We’re still investigating,” MacKenzie said, but it appeared that a plug between the new line and the existing sewer system “did not hold up in the storm.”
The solution has involved replacing the plugs, and physically blocking the unused line with a brick wall, to prevent future issues.
MacKenzie noted that the existing pumping station 2 is at capacity, and is slated for replacement in two years, when the new homes will be built and the new sewer line connected.
The town will also be using cameras this week to check a new sewer main on Line 6 to ensure there are no breaks or areas where stormwater can infiltrate, MacKenzie said. “It’s still under warranty,” he noted.
Town crews were dispatched as the calls came in reporting flooding, and four staff members remained at the desk to handle incoming calls – but were also overwhelmed.
“We are committed to improving from this,” said Mayor Lynn Dollin. To those impacted by the sewer back-up, she said, “My heart goes out to you and your families. We need to do better.”
Dollin noted that the Town has already received input from the public, including a suggestion that residents should be alerted of any potential sewer back-ups, so that they can act to remove important items from their basements.
She said she had also contacted the Mayor of Tecumseh Township, where 2400 homes were flooded in a similar event in 2016, and 700 homes experienced sanitary sewer back-ups.
Dollin noted that Tecumseh implemented a grant program for the installation of backflow preventers on susceptible homes. The program was successful: during the next major flooding event, only 44 homes reported sewage back-ups, and most of those did not take advantage of the program.
Also a departure from standard procedure, council moved forward two Notices of Motion - items usually dealt with towards the end of the meeting. Councillors approved bringing forward two requests to town staff: to hold a debriefing, to look at improvements to customer service responses; and to investigate a Back-flow Prevention Grant pilot project.
At the start of the meeting, Mayor Dollin introduced the “first meeting of the decade” by noting “how challenging it has been, especially this past week,” with flooding, a three-hour power outage, and the sewer back-up on Line 6.
She praised the action of both staff, and residents. “Neighbours were sharing generators, to keep sump pumps working,” Dollin said. “Neighbour helping neighbour.”
After the meeting, Hegger noted that the sewage back-up caused “roughly” between $50,000 and $100,000 in damages to his finished basement, depending on the cost of clean-up, and how much can be salvaged.
“At least we got a lot of answers today,” Hegger said. “I’m glad the council gave us the opportunity to speak up.”
