Industrial-strength chlorine spill kills roughly 2,000 fish at Coquitlam hatchery
Pressure-washing waste entered a storm drain and contaminated Hoy Creek, destroying juvenile salmon, trout and cutthroat trout the facility was raising.
The day's top stories, food & events — every morning at 7. Unsubscribe anytime.
A chemical spill has killed roughly 2,000 fish at the Hoy-Scott Watershed Society's hatchery along Hoy Creek in Coquitlam after industrial-strength chlorine from a pressure-washing job entered the creek through a storm drain.
A resident called the hatchery on Thursday reporting dead fish floating in the creek. Staff found chlorine in the water at the holding tanks and traced the contamination downstream for approximately one kilometre. The dead included juvenile salmon, trout, and cutthroat trout the facility was raising.
"Out here we could smell some bleach," Robbin Whachell, the society's communications director, said. "When we opened up our tank holding our coho, it didn't smell so bad. I was pleasantly surprised to see only one dead fish. We had them test the water and there was chlorine in there, and over the next one to two hours, they slowly started dying."
Heavy rain has helped wash away the harmful chemicals and dead fish. Some fish survived the spill, and hatchery staff are monitoring survivors over the coming weeks through water samples.
Both the City of Coquitlam and the Department of Oceans and Fisheries are investigating. The city said further investigation will determine fines and mitigation measures. The hatchery is reminding residents never to pour anything down storm drains marked with a yellow fish symbol, and to stay off areas around the creek ahead of the salmon return season.
"It's pretty sad, it's not something we like to deal with," said Matthew Watts, the society's director. "We wish we could raise nice happy healthy salmon and they could go to the ocean and live out their lives."
Which pressure-washing company was responsible for the spill?
What specific chlorine concentration was detected in the water?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
At a glance
What happened at the Hoy-Scott Watershed Society's hatchery in Coquitlam?
Industrial-strength chlorine from a pressure-washing job entered Hoy Creek through a storm drain, killing roughly 2,000 juvenile salmon, trout, and cutthroat trout that the facility was raising.
How did staff discover the spill?
A resident called the hatchery on Thursday, September 24, 2026, reporting dead fish in the creek. Staff then found chlorine in the water at the holding tanks and traced contamination downstream for approximately one kilometre.
Are any fish surviving?
Some fish survived the spill at the Hoy-Scott Watershed Society's hatchery, and staff are monitoring the survivors over the coming weeks through water samples.
