March 29, 2006
Soap Enters Byrne Creek From Hedley
Yumi and I went for a walk down Byrne Creek ravine in southeast Burnaby at around 3:00 this afternoon. As we neared the bottom of the Brynlor stairs, we could see the creek had a heavy soapy flow. When we got to the bottom of the stairs I called the 24-hour spill number, and the person who answered said there was a similar complaint yesterday, and put me through to Environmental voicemail.
Yumi and I tracked it back to the Hedley Ave. outfall -- there was an obvious trail of suds down the side of the ravine over the rocks from the drain pipe. It was near 4:00 by then and the flow of soapy stuff had dwindled.
The Hedley outfall is where rain drains enter the creek from a large area bounded approximately by Hedley Ave. and Gilley Ave. east to west, and Kingsway and Portland north to south. The flow of soap was much too heavy for an individual washing a car. If you see any flows of soapy water or other noxious substances entering rain drains on a street or parking lot, call Burnaby Environmental at 604-294-7460, or after regular hours the spill hotline at 604-294-7200.
The soapy flow near the stairs in the ravine.
Yumi checking the pH. It was 6.0, not bad.
Suds trail down the side of the ravine from the Hedley Ave. pipe.