Pictou County illegal dump site contained dead seal, lawn chairs

Old tires. A wall oven. Abandoned lawn chairs. Even a dead seal in a ripped garbage bag.

These are just some of the things Angie Burns-Burrell has found dumped near her home. Things that people should, and usually do, put at end of driveways on garbage days — minus the seal carcass, that is.

Burns-Burrell lives in Caribou River, Pictou County. Across from her house is the MacKay Corner Road, which she walks on a regular basis. It's an area she describes as pretty and lovely, but full of garbage.

"It makes me very angry to see the garbage that's dumped along this road," she told CBC Radio's Mainstreet. 

There's a pull off area along the road where people dump decomposable materials, such as garden plants, branches and lawn clippings.

But also strewn about is the kind of stuff that sticks around and smells so bad wild scavengers take notice. 

"At one point I noticed that there were a lot of eagles and coyotes hanging around the area so I decided to check it out. In my wildest dreams I never though I would find a dead seal," Burns-Burrell says.

"Now, I know we're very close to the Northumberland Strait, but this poor little fellow didn't make it to this road by himself, nor did he put himself in a garbage bag."

Burns-Burrell has come across other surprising finds, including a duct-taped Rubbermaid container full of contents unknown.

"I didn't look in it, told my husband about it, and he said don't you dare look in that tote to see what's in there."

Why dump illegally when a trip to the dump is free?

Illegal dumping isn't new to MacKay Corner Road. Burns-Burrell says it's something that's been happening for at least nine years, which is as long as she's lived in the area.

While she doesn't know why, she supposes the privacy of the road makes it easier for people to dump when there's nobody around.

Pictou County Solid Waste did try to clean up the mess after Burns-Burrell explained the situation to them.

"They sent out a crew with a truck to remove all the garbage along the side of the road and a crew with dump trucks and an excavator to remove the garbage in the pull off area," she says.

"They did an excellent job cleaning up this area and so far the pull off area has stayed clean, but the garbage is appearing once again on the side of the road."  

Brian Cullen, chief administrator for the Municipality of Pictou County, says the Pictou County solid waste management facility has received a report of the illegal dump in Caribou River and will be investigating the matter. 

For her part, Burns-Burrell says what really gets her is that people who pay residential property taxes in Pictou County receive vouchers for two free trips to take garbage to the solid waste management facility.

The vouchers are good from May 1 to Oct. 31 and you can take up to 453 kilograms per voucher at no charge. 

"How much easier can you make it for people and they still dump garbage along the roadside?"