Put sewage in lake, save $400m: Khan

Pumping treated sewage into Lake Ontario instead of Hamilton Harbour would save the city more than $400 million, says whistleblower Abdul Khan.

While the city is budgeting $700 million to expand and upgrade the Woodward Avenue treatment plant, Khan maintains it could be done for less than $300 million if the treated waste didn't have to meet strict standards for discharge into the harbour.

A professional engineer who lost his job as director of water and wastewater in June, Khan alleges he was threatened with disciplinary action when he wanted to put the lake-discharge option before council last January.

When the Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan was drafted in 1992, lake discharge was ruled out. Community representatives felt treating sewage to meet harbour standards was the responsible approach to minimize impact on the lake from which the city draws its drinking water.