Industrial waste has been billowing from a ditch into the fish-bearing Hope Slough in Chilliwack, according to Cheam First Nation.
"This is the third toxic Hope Slough spill in the past two months," said Roxanna Kooistra, Cheam Enterprises project manager.
A dead salmon was found on Dec. 2 with eggs still inside, which is evidence that the fish are dying before reaching their spawning grounds, she said.
Ongoing monitoring efforts by technicians and biologists from the Healthy Waters initiative led to this latest pollution incident being discovered at the end of November, coming from the Chapman ditch and flowing into the slough.
Cheam staff and land guardians found a pipe spewing what they believe is industrial waste from a ditch, which feeds into the nearby fish habitat of the slough.
Adult coho salmon are currently migrating through the foul-smelling water to their spawning grounds, and chinook salmon eggs are in the gravel, according to biologist Mike Pearson.
"It's distressing from an environmental point of view as well as distressing from a human health point of view," Pearson said.
The trail of milky-coloured liquid can be seen swirling for several kilometres downstream in drone footage.
The water coming out of the ditch into the slough is "extremely polluted," the biologist said, adding it smells like a mixture of sewage and chemicals.
"This pipe 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," said Kooistra.
They are calling on all involved to work together on a permanent solution to prevent this from happening again.
There were two incidents that killed fish in the upper slough in September 2024 and were reported within a week of each other. Eleven agencies were involved in that investigation, but there was no definitive answer about what caused the sudden fish kill. Preliminary findings suggest "low oxygen levels" in the historic waterway were to blame for killing thousands of juvenile fish including chum and coho salmon.
"Cheam once again is covering the cost of the cleanup with RAM Environmental through their own resources," Kooistra said about the latest incident.
They are lifting their hands up to federal Environment Climate Change Canada who had officers on-site "within an hour" of being called. They are calling on the Ministry of Environment officials to similarly acknowledge and step up their sustained efforts to protect these waterways and hold the perpetrators accountable.
"Both have jurisdiction and responsibilities when there are pollutants in the water. This is widespread and ongoing issue, and the ping-ponging between agencies in response is ineffective.
"We need collaboration from all agencies as well as the land owners to stop the pollution, and restore the fish habitat."
The Pelólxw tribe members Sqwà (Skwah) and Xwchíyò:m (Cheam) First Nations, partnered with Shwhá:y (Skway) Village to launch the 'Shxwlistexw te Sqwá:la Shxweli' project in 2023. It's one of several initiatives the nations are working together on to protect water as a sacred resource.
The community water technicians and biologists are monitoring and testing the slough at 36 different sites for pollution and temperature levels as two examples.
