Shortly after salmon were spotted spawning in Burnaby's Still Creek, a local resident is raising concerns about dumping waste down drainpipes.
On Saturday, Burnaby resident Bruce Causier filmed a substance that appeared to be white paint, flowing from a storm drain, into Still Creek near Skeena Street and Cornett Road, on the Vancouver side of Boundary Road.
"To me it looked like it was white paint, and there (were) a couple of workers around there, and one of the guys said, 'Oh this is an ongoing thing,'" he told the NOW. "The thing is it goes right into the Burnaby side."
Still Creek runs from East Vancouver to Burnaby Lake and was once one of the most polluted waterways in the Lower Mainland. The creek has made a comeback in recent years, and salmon have returned to spawn both this fall and last, after decades of absence.
But, as Causier's video shows, the fish were swimming in the midst of the white substance in question. Causier suspects a nearby company that deals with paint products may be the source, but he wasn't sure.
Causier reported the incident to the B.C. Ministry of Environment, and staff went to investigate, but they could not find the source.
According to the federal Fisheries Act, it's illegal to dump a deleterious substance in water frequented by fish or in a place that leads to water frequented by fish.
"The things that gets me is the salmon were spawning right there," Causier said. "What kind of chance do the eggs have?"
City of Vancouver staff are investigating the spill, but they haven't determined a source.
"We have sewer and water bylaws that have provisions for appropriate and not appropriate substances that can go into these pipes, which include fines and penalties for non-compliance," said Viviana Zanocco, media relations coordinator for the City of Vancouver.
Causier is not the only one to document spills in Still Creek. On Sept. 13, Vancouver resident Duncan Creamer took several photos of the creek full of a similar white substance at 22nd and Renfrew streets, upstream from where Causier shot his video. Duncan said he wasn't sure what the substance was and did not notice any unusual odours.
The most recent spill led Burnaby-Douglas MP Kennedy Stewart to write a letter to Environment Canada, urging the federal body to prioritize investigating the source of the spill. In his letter, Stewart pointed out that community groups, such as the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C., have spent 40 years working to restore Still Creek.
"The ongoing stewardship of Still Creek has been a labour of love for the community, and the return of salmon is celebrated by many," he wrote.
To report spills, call 604-294-7200 in Burnaby, or 311 in Vancouver.
