Skip to content

Reporting system failing

Editor: I read with wry amusement the article in the Nov. 14 Coast Reporter, “High tipping fees linked to more illegal dumping.” You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

Editor:

I read with wry amusement the article in the Nov. 14 Coast Reporter, “High tipping fees linked to more illegal dumping.” You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

If we are working towards zero waste, the smart thing to do, instead of raising the fees, would be to have the dump free for residential waste and a small fee for commercial. I hike in the bush with my dog and too often come across old sofas, piles of soggy drywall, appliances —… it’s all out there destroying the environment, endangering wildlife and spoiling the view.

Another brilliant idea by local government was to dispense with the free annual neighbourhood clean-up. You put your junk out and a truck (or your neighbours) came and picked it up. No need to dump it in the bush.

Last summer my dog and I came across a giant pile of dumped insulation and plastic a five-minute walk from the Sunshine Coast Regional District office on Field Road. I phoned to report it and was told to phone the conservation office — in Victoria — and describe the location. They would then phone the SCRD office back and pass on the information. How ridiculous is that?

You’d think there would be a person at the SCRD office whose job it is to deal with this problem. How is some guy sitting behind a desk in Victoria supposed to know our trails and back-country? I had explained carefully how to find this pile, but the “system” obviously failed because the pile is still there.

Cecilia Ohm-Eriksen, Sechelt