The mystery of the blobs of fat washing up on a West Vancouver beach has been at least partially solved.
On Aug. 13, residents reported finding foul-smelling gelatinous grease pebbles on the high-tide mark between the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Welcome Figure and Ambleside Pier.
District staff cleaned up about 40 litres of the substance, some of which was sent for testing by Vancouver Coastal Health. The province’s environmental regulators also looked into the matter.
Acursory analysis by a chemist indicates the blobs are made up of saturated fat, “possibly animal in origin. Beef tallow comes to mind,” said Donna Powers, spokeswoman for the District of West Vancouver.
Although “fatbergs” — giant blobs of fat that collect other solids — tend to build up in sewers thanks to grease being put down the drain, it’s not possible for those fats to make it past the Lions Gate Wastewater Treatment Plant, Powers said.
“The assumed source is a ship’s discharge,” she said.
Powers said it’s unlikely they would be able to track down which ship was responsible.
North Vancouver resident Tiffany Paul noticed noxious grease when she and her family were found themselves surrounded by it on the beach.
“It seemed like it was like some kind of food oil that had gone rancid. The smell of it was awful,” she said. “I could not get it off my hands and we had to have the windows open in the car on the way home because it was so bad. It was on our feet and our hands.”
At the time, Paul said, she speculated that it had come from a ship in the harbour. The lack of oversight and consequences is troubling, she added.
“It seems like the regulations around ships and what they’re able to dump and the compliance and enforcement is definitely lacking,” she said. “It’s kind of disturbing. You go to the beach to just enjoy nature. I was like in a third world country or something where there’s pollution everywhere.”
