A local streamkeeper is once again raising concerns about silty runoff from a construction site on Eastlake Drive that’s running into Silver Creek, a small salmon-bearing stream the feeds into Burnaby Lake.
John Preissl, a Burnaby resident who keeps an eye on the waterway, was at the construction site on Friday, when heavy rains washed sediment into Silver Creek.
“The rain started washing away the mud from this massive slope they clear cut and ploughed,” Preissl said. “I went down there that afternoon, and that’s when it downpoured, and that’s when the whole slope washed away into the creek.”
Preissl said he saw sediment, silt, gravel, sand, rocks and construction debris going into the east and west legs of the creek that run around the site, where the developer, Adera, is finishing work on a series of six office buildings.
“It was the worst washout sediment issue I’ve seen in a decade of streamkeeping,” he said.
Preissl took photos and video and phoned the City of Burnaby’s spill reporting line. A staff member came, and Preissl gave him a tour, pointing out the various problems. Preissl also contacted B.C.’s Ministry of Environment and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, but he said neither has responded.
Preissl said the creek, which was hit by a coal spill in 2014, has been in trouble for a while.
“It literally is an at-risk creek. This sediment has been a major issue for two and a half years,” he said.
“People don’t realize how bad sediment is,” Preissl said. “Sediment literally suffocates these little fish to death.”
The NOW first covered the story in 2014, when Preissl raised concerns that silty rainwater was running into Silver Creek. At that time, the city inspected the site but said the source was likely from further upstream, but Preissl insisted the construction site was the problem.
“They did everything back then, in my opinion, to protect the developer,” Preissl said.
This time, Dipak Dattani, Burnaby’s deputy director of engineering, wants a more thorough investigation. City staff visited the site and asked the developer’s contractor to redirect the water, clean up the ditches and install filters to help catch the silt, which reduced the runoff. By Tuesday, staff were planning another meeting with the contractor and an environmental monitor to look at additional measures that could be put in place, Dattani said.
“I can’t say that they’re negligent, but I could say we are looking at areas (with more work) that can be done and further action provided. I’m not there yet,” he said. “That’s all part of the investigation I’d like to see. … I want to understand history prior to that to see: Did they do they all they can?”
Preissl said the silt was running all the way downstream to the Brunette River, but by Sunday, the water was clear again.
“The bottom line is we have to look after these salmon,” Preissl said. “If we continue to do this, … they just stop coming to creek if it’s gets beaten like that.”
Adera confirmed the company took steps to clean up the site and keep the water clear but was unavailable to comment further.
