A stretch of Bowker Creek was slick with an unknown contaminant on Wednesday morning.
Floating barriers and absorbent pads used to contain the pollutant marked parts of the narrow waterway near the Oak Bay Rec Centre on Bee Street.
The morning before, municipal workers were there to respond to the mysterious substance.
“Oak Bay is proud of the Oak Bay Fire Department and Oak Bay Public Works for their prompt response to reports of a substance in Bowker Creek,” the district said in a social media post. “On the morning of Tuesday, July 8, crews responded, deploying booms to mitigate further spread while working in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment.”
A vacuum truck was also sent to the scene.
"Crews have not determined the contaminant as it has not been tested yet," said the district's manager of communications Hayley Goodgrove. "We remain in contact with the Ministry of Environment and Capital Regional District."
As for the pollutant's origins, Goodgrove said the district believes the spill originated outside of Oak Bay.
"Staff have monitored the creek up to the Oak Bay border," she said. "There is no source within the Oak Bay border."
The waterway also meanders through Victoria and Saanich.
In an email, the District of Saanich said that it has "confirmed that the spill is coming from the City of Victoria drainage system that enters Bowker Creek." It added that this information was confirmed at a meeting on Wednesday between Saanich, Victoria, Capital Regional District and Oak Bay staff.
Despite Oak Bay's clean-up efforts, the public began to notice the creek's muddied appearance – and its smell.
In an email to the Oak Bay News on Tuesday, one man said the contaminant “is accompanied by a strong odour similar to creosote.”
“To me, it smelled like paint thinner, but other people thought it smelled like gasoline or diesel,” Oak Bay local Ivan said on Wednesday.
The man, who lives in an apartment building overlooking the Bee Street stretch of Bowker Creek, was at the waterway before municipal workers arrived on Tuesday, and he explained its the appearance then wasn't pretty.
“It was a really slimy, ugly, oily mess,” he said. “On the other side, where it trickles, you could see the oily sheen – you know, the multicolours of oil.”
Pictures sent to the Oak Bay News by a member of the public appear to show a multicoloured sheen on the water’s surface around 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
Ivan added that he is concerned about the effect the contaminant will have on the wildlife that call Bowker Creek home.
“There are quite a few fish,” he said. “Today, now that we can see through the water again, I haven’t seen any of them yet this morning, and there’s usually lots of them around.”
Barbara, who lives in the same building as Ivan, had previously seen ducks bobbing up and down the creek. Now she’s worried about their well-being.
“I don’t know if they’re going to handle all this,” she said.
The Oak Bay News has reached out to Victoria for comment.
