Hoti Alberts had to do a double take as he drove by a ditch near Ivy Avenue and Keith Street in South Burnaby last week.
That’s because the ditch was filled with red water, similar to the colour of blood.
“I saw the stream and I just couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I’m kind of an outdoor fisherman-type guy, so every time you drive by moving water, you always have a little peek.”
After failing to get in touch with someone at city hall, Alberts contacted the NOW to share the news.
One of the city’s environmental services officer, who checked out the ditch after the NOW put in a request for comment, suspects the colour came from red dye.
“Anytime I’ve seen something like that in the past, ironically, (it) happened on Valentine’s Day because florists put this red dye in flowers,” said Christine Ensing.
There are three floral suppliers in that neighbourhood, according to a Google map search. Ensing noted each property has a sanitary and storm connection, and that florists draining fluids containing dye have to do so via the sanitary line.
The ditch flooded because the nearby sanitary pump station on Joffre Avenue had stopped working and its alarm failed to go off, according to Ensing.
“We popped the sanitary man holes and saw that same red dye colour, so we knew there was a problem with it getting into the ditch,” she said, noting the contaminated water was an isolated incident and did not escape into any fish-bearing creeks.
Crews had the pump station back up and running before she got to the scene, Ensing added, and everything was “draining properly.”
“Because it’s localized and it’s not flowing anywhere outside the area, we’re not worried about it and we’re pretty sure that that’ll evaporate,” she said.
Asked how long that could take, Ensing couldn’t say. As for whether the dye is harmful, she said it would depend on its ingredients.
“It would also depend on the volume, but usually if there is a product and we know what the product is, then we ask for a material data sheet, to find out what the product is and (if it) would have any sort of negative effect on aquatic life,” explained Ensing.
The incident is a reminder to folks to call the city’s engineering dispatch emergency line, at 604-294-7200, if they spot something unusual, she said.
“The longer this sits without us knowing about it, then we may lose track if we need to follow up on it.”
In the meantime, she said her department will be looking at why the alarm didn’t go off, so something similar doesn’t happen again.
