Crews back in Vancouver to repair broken sewer main
Posted June 21, 2024 7:01 am.
Last Updated June 21, 2024 11:07 am.
Metro Vancouver Regional District crews are back in Vancouver Friday morning to fix the broken sewer main that spewed effluent onto the street and into False Creek Thursday.
Just before 6 a.m. pooling sewage could be seen on Columbia Street near West 2nd Avenue. Six to eight inches of the effluent submerged the road before the road was closed and crews got on scene.
By 10 a.m., Metro Vancouver had contained the leak and the effluent had subsided, however, the regional district confirmed the sewage had made its way into nearby False Creek.
Crew members tell CityNews Friday they won’t know much more about the damage to the main until around 12 p.m.
Their focus is around an area of the pipe that sits approximately three to four feet below the surface of the road, crews shared. The plan is to excavate around the pipe and then analyze the damage to see what’s wrong with it.
In an update Friday, Metro Vancouver shared that Vancouver Coastal Health has confirmed the Dragon Boat Festival is “safe to proceed” after analyzing False Creek water samples.
“Now that the leak is contained, we have been working with the City of Vancouver to flush fresh water through Hinge Park. This involves adding more water to the wetlands to continue to improve the water quality until it increases to an acceptable level. The water is being dechlorinated before it enters the creek,” it said.
“There has been no impact to service for residents.”
