A Lunenburg county man says anyone caught illegally dumping should lose their vehicle.
Blair Moland is constantly dealing with people leaving garbage on his property.
The debris he finds can be anything from garbage bags to loads of building supplies.
He says the threat of fines doesn’t seem to have any impact, and that needs to change.
“If me and you went right now and caught one lobster they’d take our car, they’d take our truck, our boat, whatever we’ve got – our diving gear and it might only be a ten dollar lobster, but they’re still going to prove a point. And I think that’s what should be done with this illegal dumping.”
Moland says stiffer penalties could take some pressure off enforcement officers.
“The municipality, I mean, they’ve got their hands tied, there’s only so many of them working there. They try their best. Without these fines or these extreme measures this will be forever. So let’s get this stopped, once and for all.”
Derek Degrass the Compliance and Inspection Coordinator with Nova Scotia’s Department of the Environment says municipalities are not alone in their efforts.
“It isn’t just the municipalities that have a role to play. We, as a province, have legislation that prohibits littering, prohibits illegal dumping. That’s why I say, we have fine structures in place to curb this type of activity.”
But Degrass says tracking down the offenders is the largest issue.
“For us, it’s not so much about the fines. We feel fines are there, they’re in place, they’re sufficient. It really, investigatively, becomes more an issue of proof. Our biggest challenge, often, is finding out who did it.”
In Lunenburg County, that responsibility falls to the Municipal Joint Services Board‘s Outreach and Compliance Officer Angela Taylor.
Taylor will dig through garbage and whatever else has been dumped to try and determine who is responsible.
She says residents of the Lunenburg Municipality are fortunate to have options that, as far as she knows, aren’t offered anywhere else in Nova Scotia.
“They can clean it up and bring it to the site, and we waive the tipping fee. Or, if they don’t have the means to clean it up we’ll organize the clean up and have it cleaned as quickly as possible, at no charge to the property owner.”
Taylor acknowledges the clean up is the easy part.
“It’s the investigation. It does take a lot of time. Especially on sites that are under surveillance. That does take a lot of time as well. You have to maintain the cameras, because if you’ve taken the time to set these cameras up you want to make sure that you’re going to catch the people.”
The Municipal Joint Services Board deals with waste collection for the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, as well as the towns of Bridgewater and Mahone Bay. The board can impose fines of up to $5,000 for illegal dumping.
Municipality of the District of Lunenburg Mayor Carolyn Bolivar-Getson says it’s unfortunate illegal dumping is still an issue.
“With all the technology and everything that we have to have that curbside pickup – which costs a considerable amount of money to our municipality – that people are still dumping their garbage illegally.”
Bolivar-Getson isn’t necessarily against raising fines.
However, she says the problem could be addressed in other ways.
“I think it’s a mentality that we have to change. Those same people are rolling down their windows and throwing out their cigarette butts, they’re throwing out their pop bottles and so on. We do need to get a handle on that.”
Moland appreciates the Municipality will help clean up, but he’s tired of calling and wants stronger action taken.
He says the situation needs to change so that illegal dumping is not worth the risk.
And if people know they will lose their vehicle if they’re caught, illegal dumping will stop.
Reported by: Ed Halverson
Twitter: @edwardhalverson
E-mail: halverson.ed@radioabl.ca
