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A major new sanitary trunk sewer tunnelled through the city’s west end came out 10 centimetres too low at the attachment point in the West Jasper Place neighbourhood, but drainage officials say that’s not behind the odour issues plaguing the area.

The 10-centimetre gap on the 2.3-metre wide pipe does mean a bit of raw sewage is stuck in the line, but it’s a far cry from allegations circling through the neighbourhood. After getting a letter from a person who claimed to be a city employee, community league officials have said they believe the line is off by one metre and there are thousands of litres of sewage pooling in the line.

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Clem Yong, the city’s drainage director of project delivery, said staff have walked the entire new line and have monitors in the system. They guarantee there are no pools of raw sewage.

“The cause of the odours in the area and the current state of the existing sanitary trunk sewer along 99th Avenue at 151st Street is not a result of the construction of W13 and the connection to the existing sewer,” Yong said Wednesday. “There is a history of odour in the area given that there are major trunk sewers that handle large amounts of sewage coming from west Edmonton to this location.”