The mystery of the brown goo thickens.
Weeks after residents in Blueridge reported finding dozens of bags filled with disgusting brown goo being tossed in their streets, the District of North Vancouver has done some testing to find out what it is or, more accurately, what it isn’t.
“All standard tests that have been conducted on that material show that it’s not hazardous or toxic, so that’s in the good news department,” Charlene Grant, acting chief administrative officer, told district council Monday night. “That just leaves the issue of it being dumped there. In that regard, the RCMP are aware of that. There is an open file on that issue and our work crews are diligent when they’re out and about trying to find some evidence of who is leaving it behind.”
The tests indicated the odourless goo is predominantly organic material, containing no hydrocarbons or unusual metals and it is very low in protein, according to the district, suggesting it is mostly likely some kind of vegetable pulp.
“Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that we will ever know definitively what this substance is,” said Stephanie Smiley, district spokeswoman.
The bags have continued to pile up in Blueridge, ever since stories about the unwelcome goo ran first in the North Shore News and then on CBC Vancouver in late August. So far, there have been 24.
“It seems like it might be escalating. There were three bags on Saturday,” said area resident Angela Duso. “It didn’t slow down because of the news coverage. That’s for sure.”
The Blueridge Community Association has launched an online map showing where each of the bags has landed, they suspect, from a moving vehicle. Sightings can be reported at blueridgeca.org.
The district is simply asking people who find it to double-bag it and throw it out.
Duso said some ideas that have been floated in the community include bong water, vomit, juicing waste, food someone doesn’t like, or areca nut juice – the spit left over from an Asian/African nut that’s chewed as a mild stimulant. It’s reportedly popular with taxi drivers.
District Coun. Jim Hanson, who has been working with the Blueridge residents on the brown goo file, said he suspects the bags are being left as an act of mischief.
“It would seem to fall into the category of prank behaviour at this stage,” he said. “Acting out by a young person, I suppose.”
Sooner or later, the suspect will be found out by making careless statements about his activity, Hanson predicted.
In the meantime, he has a message for the goo tosser.
“Stop. It’s extremely antisocial behaviour,” he said. “Whatever it is that ails this fellow, it’s something that would be better addressed by some other behaviour.”
