THUNDER BAY — City of Thunder Bay crews and contractors are performing a rather unpleasant task after a sewer overflow was discovered in the area of Arthur Street and James Street.
In a news release Monday afternoon, the city said the leak occurred from a previously undocumented combined sewer overflow/maintenance hole
(manhole) that was located while crews were investigating reports of a bad smell in the vicinity Friday.
It turned out the overflow was caused by a grease blockage in the sanitary sewer on Arthur, and allowed sewage to enter a storm sewer and flow down to the Neebing River.
Since the incident came to light, crews have been working to clean and inspect sewer pipes in the area as well as the storm outfall to the Neebing River in the Riverview Drive and James Street area.
The city's environment division said crews will remove any sewage and debris prior to putting the storm sewer back into service.
It said water quality at the outfall to the Neebing River is being monitored throughout the process, and that the incident has been reported to the Ontario government's Spills Action Centre.
The city said the environment ministry and the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority are also being kept up to date on progress.
