Plan for landfill tipping fees is garbage, say Lake Laberge residents

Tipping fees are coming to landfills in Yukon's unincorporated communities — and some rural residents say the idea is rubbish. 

Peter Wojtowicz, who lives in the Lake Laberge area, says it's not fair to residents who use the government-run Deep Creek dump. He blames Whitehorse residents for filling that dump with their garbage.

The Whitehorse landfill already charges tipping fees, and people often avoid those by driving to other landfills where they can dump for free.

"It's grown and exploded over the years, substantially in last 10, 15 years of Whitehorse residents coming out," said Wojtowicz.

"They don't care about driving out there — it's a nice drive. They just look at the cost, that they can dump it there for free. It's just the way we are as humans."

Wojtowicz says a recent meeting in his area with government officials about the new fees was "pretty hostile."

"Some people were so mad they walked right out, because they are tired of the revenue-grabbing," he said.  

Wojtowicz thinks local residents in his area should be able to dump their trash for free, maybe by showing an ID card.

"It's not them causing problems, it's outside people dumping their cars, their garbage, construction material, from other areas other than the local area — and it cannot be stopped."

'We all need to essentially pay our share'

Dave Albisser, the territorial government's director of community operations, says the new fees — $1 per garbage bag at Whitehorse-area landfills — are about "increasing user responsibility."

"We all need to essentially pay our share," he said.   

Albisser says the free dump sites end up as "leakage points" for waste management.

"We're seeing that already around the Whitehorse periphery," he said. "Unfortunately, that's not a level playing field. So we're trying to correct that, and that does unfortunately involve tipping fees for those users in the unincorporated areas such as Marsh Lake and Deep Creek."

The new fees will be introduced at landfills near Whitehorse in April. The government's other facilities — except Beaver Creek and Old Crow — will see fees starting in 2021. 

The government is also increasing fines for illegal dumping. 

Albisser says there are more public meetings coming up next month, in Braeburn, Carcross and Deep Creek.