Someone went to a whole lot of trouble to dump a huge pile of garbage on Christine Lafave’s property in Ashmore.
They drove the unsorted garbage two kilometers down the Doty Road, almost to the rifle range and then to the bottom of an overgrown alder-lined path and left their junk on the side of the field where Lafave and her husband hope to retire.
“If they would have just left this stuff on the side of the road in front of their own house, it would have been so much easier for everyone,” says Lafave.
Lafave lives and works in Edmonton but recently bought a few seaside acres on the Doty Road in Ashmore. She and her husband are summering there now in their fifth wheeler and hope to retire to “Christina’s Cove” in three years.
Friends who watch the property for them discovered the mess just before the Lafaves arrived for July 1.
“I’d just like to find this guy and have him come back and take his garbage back,” says Lafave. “Maybe he made a mistake and forgot it here.”
Richie Nickerson is the by-law enforcement officer and special constable with Waste Check.
He found identification in the garbage and is hoping to locate an individual connected with that identification.
“I’ll have a chat with that individual and then based on that conversation I’ll decide if charges will be laid or not,” says Nickerson
Illegal dumping is subject to a fine ranging from $500 up to $5,000 in the Municipality of the District of Digby.
“It still baffles me why people lug this stuff into the backwoods,” says Nickerson. “If you’re paying taxes, you’re paying for garbage pick up to have someone take this away for you.”
Greg Thomas, transfer station manager with the town and municipality, says the town and district set up the public drop off station hoping it would cut down on some of the illegal dumping.
The site includes a locked compound for storage of hazardous wastes including BBQ tanks, automotive fluids, pool chemicals, herbicides and pesticides, household cleaners, batteries, solvents and thinners, small propane cylinders and torches and paints and stains.
There are containers for odds bits of wood and furniture, bins for garbage and all manners of recyclables.
“It’s one-stop shopping here,” says Thomas. “Recyclables, hazardous waste, garbage, that old couch, anything you don’t know what to do with—that old can of oil you’ve kept under the sink for years cause you don’t what to do with it. We have trained staff on site to help you figure it all out.”
They only things they aren’t equipped to accept at the Upper Cross Road site is compostables, fireworks or industrial or commercial waste. All construction material should still go across the road to the dumpsite.
Thomas encourages people to bring their garbage to the station in clear bags. The site is intended for people who missed their pick up day, will be away for the next one and for people who aren’t sure about the rules for sorting.
“People are threatened by garbage today,” says Thomas. “It’s our job at the drop off to educate people and help them sort out their garbage.”
He says people have responded favorably to the site.
“When people come here and we show them what goes where, they really feel good about themselves for taking their garbage where it belongs.”
The drop off site on the Upper Cross Road is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 8 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturdays.
All drop offs under 200kg are free, between 200kg and 400kg they cost $23 and over 400kg they cost $100.
jriley@digbycourier.ca
Waste Check separation guide: http://www.wastecheck.ca/separation_guide.html
Waste Check collection schedule in the municipality: http://www.wastecheck.com/calendar_district_digby.html
Waste Check collection schedule in town: http://www.wastecheck.com/calendar_town_digby.html
