East Vancouver cleanup begins at house used as illegal dump
Dumping grounds attracting vermin to street where homes cost $1.4M
Yellow-vested city workers began clearing out piles of garbage Thursday morning around a valuable empty lot in East Vancouver that was being used as an illegal dump.
The empty house set for demolition attracted mysterious piles of refuse, to the horror of neighbours on the street.
"It's really bad bad smell," said Sukhbir Singh Gill, who has lived next to the house for the past 20 years. "And so many mouse!"
The plethora of junk has been piling up at the lot at East 49th Avenue and Dumfries Street for the past few months.
Homes in the area are selling for $1.4 million and neighbours like Gill just want the garbage-infested lot cleaned up.
"Who like this kind of garbage in front of your house? No one. Not even dogs," he said.
Gill has tried to confront people who come to dump their garbage under the cover of darkness, but they run away.
He's seen people leave their rubbish in the yard, back alley and even on the sidewalk.
It all began after the owners applied to have the property demolished and moved out, according to Gill.
The question is: who will clean it up? A City of Vancouver sign on the door says the owner must remove garbage by Aug. 10.
But the owner said in a telephone interview with CBC News that he believes the city should do the cleanup.
Dumpers face $2,000 fine if they are caught.
Meanwhile, the stench around the property is overpowering, and it's not an isolated problem.
In 2014, city inspectors visited 85 addresses with similar complaints.