A lawyer for the Haudenosaunee Development Institute says the City of Hamilton needs to pay up before the Chedoke Creek clean-up continues.
Aaron Detlor, accompanied by Six Nations community member Trevor Bomberry, visited the site of the polluted creek on Aug. 24 after expressing concerns there were no monitors from Six Nations overseeing the clean-up.
He has since said the city needs to pay Six Nations environmental monitors to oversee the work before dredging resumes.
The city is spending $6 million to clean up the waterway after a four-year, 24-billion litre sewage spill polluted the creek.
News of the spill was kept secret until The Hamilton Spectator revealed the extent of the damage into the creek and nearby Cootes Paradise.
The city paused work on the clean-up to address the HDI’s concerns. The HDI acts as the administrative arm of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council.
They have until December to clean up 22,000 tonnes of sewage from the creek.
Detlor had told the city it failed its duty to consult the HCCC on the clean-up.
The land sits on a large swath of the Nanfan Treaty area.
According to the CBC, HDI monitors are paid $150 an hour, Detlor said, adding that two workers would need to be on site for about six hours a day for the duration of the clean-up.