By Jeff Labine

Illegal dumping a common problem

Apr 7, 2017 | 12:00 PM

Brad Dent has had enough with trash being dumped in his neighbourhood.

For years, he has seen trash dumped into the ditches along the side roads near his home, which just so happens to be down the street from Prince Albert’s landfill. He started trying to clean up the mess by loading a trailer hooked up to his ATV. He said he would take the trash to the landfill but was told he would have to pay the dumping fee otherwise the trash would have to go back where he found it.

“I’ve been trying to figure out for years if there’s a way to get in for free or if there’s a pass I can get,” he said. “Something like that. Why not take a loader filled with dirt and make it so these people can’t get down there. All it will take is to fill the roads so they can’t get down there.”

Dent spoke with the landfill manager about a group that picks up garbage. He said he plans on joining in to help out.

Sarah Keith, the manager of landfills with the province’s Ministry of Environment, said the community plays an important role in ensuring sites are cleaned up.

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 She explained illegal dumping is a common problem in both rural and urban communities. In Prince Albert’s case, she explained it’s easier for people to dump their trash because of the heavily wooded areas.

She said a few years ago, the ministry identified roughly 80 illegal dumpsites in the Nisbet Provincial Forest area alone.

“What we noticed is once a dumpsite is there, people tend to keep dumping on that pile,” she said, adding when these sites were cleared up people stop dumping.

The hope is by cleaning up these dumping sites they will become less common. The cleanup efforts appear to be working as Keith said 60 of the 80 sites have been cleared amounting to 36,000 kg of waste.

The items found at these dumpsites can vary from simply discarded coffee cups to bags filled with household trash. Keith explained cleanup crews have found old mattresses, appliances and even construction and demolition waste.

She said this is why community initiatives like Keep Prince Albert and Area Beautiful helps.

Keith explained there’s a number of reasons why people choose to illegally dump their trash.

“People don’t want to take their material to the landfill, they don’t want to pay the fees, the landfill is closed when they get there and for some people it is just easier to dump it on the side of the road than actually going to the landfill,” she said. “A lot of the material we find dumped is actually recyclable material. So we try to understand why that material was dumped when it does have locations you can go to for free to be recycled.”

She added although cleanup crews are finding less illegal dumping sites in Prince Albert, it’s still a common problem, which is why people should report it to the ministry.

Jeff.labine@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @labinereporter