By Alec Bruce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Guysborough Journal
December 2, 2023
GUYSBOROUGH — Indiscriminate dumping is not as frequent or as odious of a problem as it once was, but Kevin O’Handley of the Eastern Region Solid Waste Management Committee (ERSWMC) says it still happens – and it still stinks – in every sense of the word.
“There’s one spot at the look-off near Halfway Cove,” he said. “I saw one resident not overly long ago, as I was driving into work, just stuffing his garbage into one of the receptacles. He said, ‘Well, I pay taxes.’ And I said, “Well, I do too, but I don’t take my garbage here.”
O’Handley, who is compliance officer for the ERSWMC – which covers the five regional municipalities in Guysborough and Antigonish counties – spoke to The Journal last week following news that anyone caught dumping on Crown land can now expect to pay a pocketbook-busting penalty.
According to the Nov. 17 announcement from the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, fines for dumping are now $812.50 for a first offence and up to $2,422.50 for repeat offences. The fine was $352.50 for both first and subsequent offences.
Said Natural Resources Minister Tony Rushton in a statement: “We’re serious about protecting our lands and forests. We’re delivering on a promise to increase the fine for dumping on Crown land. Higher fines will serve as a greater deterrent and help keep our natural spaces clean.”
While the new measure does not affect the municipal land under the ERSWMC’s watchful eye, O’Handley said it sends a strong message to any resident or business in the municipalities of the District of Guysborough (MODG) and St. Mary’s, towns of Mulgrave and Antigonish, along with the Municipality of the County of Antigonish that still think public property should be a private dumpster. Regrettably, he said, a few still do.
“I’ve got a picture right in front of me and it looks like somebody emptied out their deep freeze. There’s all kinds of food there… Like it’s just crazy… This is out on McGillivray’s Loop, which is probably 10 minutes from the landfill on Route 16.”
Fortunately, he’s quick to say, these sort of incidences – and worse – are not as common as they once were. “Years ago, you would get the real big ones. Now, you get your odd small one and it’s usually nothing I can’t handle by myself and get cleaned up.”
O’Handley chalks that up to better public awareness and municipal enforcement through the ERSWM since it formed in 1996 to help Nova Scotians reach waste diversion mandates required through provincial regulation. This target includes all refuse disposed from residents, businesses and as a result of construction and demolition activities.
The problem, he says, is the domino effect. “All the municipalities have been great in giving me a hand with workers and so forth to get this stuff out of there fast…With an illegal dump – say 10 bags and appliances – what happens when you leave it is that it just gets bigger.”
MODG Warden Vernon Pitts said that while the situation has improved “substantially through our affiliation with the ERSWMC… there’s no need for any of this in this day and age. We have weekly organics and solid waste recyclables. And every month, we have a heavy haul for bulk items. Meanwhile, the landfill is open six days a week. It takes less effort to put this stuff at the end of your driveway than to unload it in the woods somewhere. Yet, we still have people [who do that]… It just amazes me.”
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He added: “Kevin [O’Handley] is authorized to investigate and charge. We’ll do whatever we have to. We haven’t been challenged in court yet.”