First Nations sound alarm about mysterious and smelly discharge flowing into the Hope Slough

The Cheam and Sqwá First Nations in the Fraser Valley are sounding the alarm for the second time in a few months about mysterious discharge flowing into the Hope Slough in Chilliwack, B.C., that they say is toxic. 

Cheam First Nation biologist Mike Pearson said the cloudy, foaming substance running through a ditch into the main stem of the slough smells like a combination of chemicals and sewage.

"It's distressing from an environmental point of view and from a human health point of view," he said. 

"Right now we are in the middle of a coho salmon run ... So they have to come through this pollution on their way [to spawning grounds] and I have no idea what impact this will have on them."

Roxanna Kooistra, who works for the Cheam environmental restoration department, said white and grey sludge was found pouring out of a pipe into a ditch that runs into Hope Slough on Nov. 28. She said so far, no dead fish have been found. 

"At this time we're working with Environment and Climate Change Canada federal officers to identify the sources. We have found three possible sources and officers are working with those land owners to stop the ongoing spill," said Kooistra.

In September, Cheam and Sqwá First Nations called attention to discharge at a different location on the Hope Slough that they say killed thousands of fish, including juvenile coho salmon, trout and the endangered Salish sucker.

An incident report from the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness said the source of the September spill remains undetermined.

"Multiple factors may have contributed to the fish kill," it stated. "Preliminary findings suggest low oxygen levels in the water. This does not usually pose a direct risk to human health. The cause of these levels is still under investigation."

The Hope Slough, known as Sqwa:la by local First Nations, flows into the Fraser River, the longest river in B.C. and one of the largest salmon spawning rivers in the world.

First Nations have been trying for years to restore salmon stocks and clean the waterway, which runs through a number of public parks in Chilliwack and is popular with paddlers and anglers. 

According to the Cheam and Sqwá First Nations, evidence of the discharge can be seen several kilometres downstream from where it is entering into Hope Slough. 

In a release, the nations said the pipe discharging the substance is "a permanent fixture, which leads us to believe that this is not a one-time offence but an ongoing polluter to these environmentally crucial waterways."

The Cheam First Nation said it is covering the cost of the cleanup, as it did for the September discharge, after the Ministry of the Environment declined to respond.

Scott McKenzie, a Ministry of Environment and Parks spokesperson, said in an email that the ministry received a new report of poor water quality in the Hope Slough on Nov. 29 and that it is following up. 

"No dead fish have been reported," he said.