Illegal dumping should come with $5K fine, Cape Breton councillor says
Municipality received 27 dumping complaints in April alone
A councillor with the Cape Breton Regional Municipality thinks steeper fines are needed to discourage illegal dumping.
The municipality is currently in the midst of its annual curb-side heavy garbage pickup, which costs $220,000, but the problem persists regardless, District 10 Coun. Darren Bruckschwaiger said Monday.
"People just feel it's OK to put garbage in their vehicle and drive to somebody's else's neighbourhood and fire it out," he said.
Bruckschwaiger is proposing a fine of as much as $5,000. (The CBRM's Solid Waste Department says a typical fine now would be around $250.)
10 to 20 complaints a month
Bruckschwaiger plans to ask municipal staff to prepare an issue paper and to raise the matter at council's general committee meeting in June.
The waste department typically receives 10 to 20 illegal dumping complaints each month, said the department's education co-ordinator, Rochelle Clarke.
"I know just in the last month for April we had approximately 27 illegal dumping calls. And that could be because the sites are now becoming more visible now that our winter is over," she said.
The dump sites often appear at the end of dirt roads or cul-de-sacs, in wooded areas or vacant lots, in both rural and urban areas.
Current program focuses on education
The dumped items range from garbage bags, computers and paint cans to larger items such as mattresses and refrigerators.
Since 2010, the Solid Waste Department has had a municipal police officer assigned to investigate dumping complaints, paid for by funding provided through Divert NS.
If the officer is able to identify the dumper, the procedure has been to ask the person to clean up the site then educate the person on the proper ways to dispose of the dumped materials, said Clarke.
Most of the items found are ones that can be disposed of for free, either through weekly curb-side pickup, the yearly heavy garbage pickup or by dropping them off at the waste management facility.
'It won't be tolerated'
It's left to the discretion of the officer whether to issue a fine, though Clarke thinks that's only happened a handful of times. "Our goal right now is to make sure that that particular person does not dump anymore," she said. "And since 2010 and we have not had any repeat offenders."
Bruckschwaiger acknowledged educational programs have helped, but said they've failed to solve the problem.
"At the end of the day, you still [have] these people who do this," he said. "There's just no need of it, and I'm really hoping the message gets out that it won't be tolerated."