City of Winnipeg says 2024 sewage spill had no significant impact on Lake Winnipeg's health

Bartley Kives · CBC News

· Posted: May 06, 2025 4:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The discharge of untreated sewage from a breached Winnipeg tube successful February 2024 did not effect successful important impacts connected the ecology of Lake Winnipeg, the City of Winnipeg argues in a connection of defence against a $4.8-billion lawsuit launched implicit the spill by 11 First Nations.

The city, state and national authorities besides denied in abstracted statements of defence they engaged successful actions that harmed the First Nations — portion the metropolis and state said the First Nations person nary lasting to marque immoderate of their claims.

In May 2024, the 8 First Nations — Berens River, Black River, Brokenhead, Hollow Water, Kinonjeoshtegon, Misipawistik, Poplar River and Sagkeeng First Nations — and their chiefs filed a assertion against the city, province and national government, seeking billions of dollars successful compensation for the discharge of more than 200 cardinal litres of untreated sewage into the Red River.

Bloodvein, Dauphin River and Fisher River First Nations and their chiefs later added their names to the claim. 

Those plaintiff First Nations are located downstream of Winnipeg or along Lake Winnipeg, meaning they are affected by discharges successful the Manitoba capital, according to their connection of claim.

The leak was stopped weeks after it began. It was the second-largest spill successful Winnipeg's history. 

In a assertion filed past twelvemonth with Manitoba's Court of King's Bench, the First Nations accused the city, state and feds of failing to support the wastewater absorption system, "implement oregon enforce capable regulatory mechanisms," pass the First Nations astir the spill, or rectify immoderate harm resulting from the discharge.

The First Nations initially sought $4.8 cardinal from the 3 levels of government: $500 cardinal each for breaches of their Charter rights, arsenic good arsenic $100 cardinal for the 8 archetypal plaintiffs successful punitive damages.

In a connection of defence filed connected April 30, the metropolis argued the discharges did not effect successful a significant contribution toward "nutrient loading" into Lake Winnipeg, which is the process where phosphorus and different nutrients that spawn the maturation of algae participate into a assemblage of water.

Winnipeg is conscionable 1 root for nutrients that flow into the water from a immense watershed that stretches from the Rocky Mountains to northwestern Ontario, the metropolis argued successful its connection of defence.

"As a effect of this immense and analyzable watershed, nutrients and pollutants flowing into Lake Winnipeg travel from a assortment of sources some wrong and extracurricular of Manitoba, including wastewater and aboveground runoff from ample regions of intensive agriculture," according to the connection of defence.

"The Red River and the Assiniboine River successful peculiar transverse cultivation lands and cod nutrients and pollutants successful the people of their travel toward Lake Winnipeg."

The metropolis nevertheless argued it "has invested and continues to put important sums connected its wastewater absorption system, including connected upgrades that person and volition further trim the discharge of nutrients and pollutants."

While these improvements person reduced the city's publication of nutrients, further reducing the city's nutrient loading by eliminating each discharges would not effect successful a important simplification successful wide nutrient load into the lake, the metropolis argued.

"Due to the predominance of different sources impacting the cumulative nutrient loading and pollutants to Lake Winnipeg, further reducing oregon adjacent eliminating nutrient publication from the city's wastewater strategy would not reconstruct Lake Winnipeg to its earthy information oregon destruct the impacts alleged successful the claim."

The metropolis besides issued a cross-claim against the national and provincial governments, arguing they person not provided the metropolis with the fiscal means to implicit sewage attraction upgrades. 

The province, successful turn, issued cross-claims against the metropolis and national government, portion the national authorities issued cross-claims against the metropolis and province.

The provincial and national governments issued their statements of defence and cross-claims connected May 2.