Golf balls a ghastly sight City of Burnaby looks to eliminate hundreds of wayward golf balls in Eagle Creek that some say adds to plastic pollution

 By KRISTEN HOLLIDAY

The problem at the creek started 20 years ago, according to Nick Kvenich, president of the Eagle Creek Streamkeepers.

from the city-owned Burnaby Mountain Golf Course, located along the creekside. Although he doesn’t believe they are a threat to the wildlife or fish, he’d prefer to see them cleaned up.

he asked council to investigate it further.

The arcade started as a hobby. Eyres said he and his wife initially got into arcade games for fun. He, a former professor from the Art Institute of Vancouver, and she, a genetic scientist, decided to turn their pastime of collecting arcade games into a full-time job.

“This was not in our future at all, this was a hobby,” Eyres said. Capital City Arcade is the only arcade of its kind in Metro Vancouver and offers 70 arcade games from the 1980s.

Eyres said the community that comes to the arcade has shown its full support for the owners. From regular customers, revisiting tourists, and a 91-year old pinball fanatic, Eyres said that the arcade has brought people together with a mutual love for nostalgia.

According to a city council rezoning handout provided by the city, applicants for rezoning must undergo several steps before getting considered for a rezoning. This includes public consultation, various meetings with council, and a public hearing.

Brandon Braun, a first-time visitor at the arcade, said that his interest in retro things and a desire to do something new brought him to the location.

“In a day and age where we’re consumed by big picture movies and entertainment, it’s nice to play simple games like this … plus there’s something so cool about old things.”

Kvenich said he noticed golf balls would wash down Eagle Creek and collect downstream at Burnaby Lake after a heavy rain.

“When I used to go into the creek, I had a superstition,” Kvenich said.

“If I found a golf ball every time I went in, I had a good day. There were extremely few days where I didn’t find a golf ball.”

Kvenich said the golf balls come

On Jan. 29, the City of Burnaby’s environmental committee reviewed a letter sent to city council by George Clulow, former president of the B.C. Field Ornithologists. The committee also reviewed a response submitted by David O’Connor, the City of Burnaby’s assistant director for golf services.

In his letter, Clulow says the creek “deposits literally hundreds of golf balls” into the lake each year, and

In an interview with The Voice, Clulow said the creek area is home to around 40-50 species of birds, while over 200 species can be seen using the whole of Burnaby Lake park today.

“It’s plastic pollution in a creek that is used by salmon and birds and all sorts of other invertebrates,” Clulow said. “It’s aesthetically ugly, and it’s a clear form of pollution that we can probably get rid of.”

O’Connor said city staff will be looking into upgrading and maintaining a screen system that is installed at a culvert near Broadway, and would be open to working with the Eagle Creek Streamkeepers to ensure no harm is done to stream ecology.

“We would probably change the size of the [culvert] grill to a smaller size and do a weekly cleaning,” he said.

O’Connor said protecting and maintaining the environment around the golf course is a “continued priority.”

John Richardson, a professor in UBC’s department of forest and conservation sciences, said runoff from roads, containing heavy metals and other pollutants, is a bigger issue than the golf balls.