3.4 tonnes of household garbage dumped onto Nanaimo street
Nanaimo RCMP and city officials are looking for help tracking down whoever dumped about three tonnes of household garbage on the side of a city street over the weekend.
It took city crews using a front end loader “hours” to clean up the trash in the 3700-block of Shenton Road after a passerby alerted the city to the illegal dumping at about 6:30 a.m. Sunday, said Dave LaBerge, city manager of community safety.
Crews doing the cleanup were taking a number of steps to piece together where the garbage came from such as keeping an eye out for envelopes or other mail with addresses, LaBerge said.
“They’re trying to get some sense of where it came from some of the contents and they’re talking to trucking companies and checking with businesses in the area to see if there’s any video or if anybody saw anything.
“Given the time and volume, they are doing a bit of extra due diligence to try to find out where this came from.”
LaBerge said it appeared the debris had been compacted, as if it had been transported in a commercial garbage truck.
“But there aren’t that many of those [compactors] kicking around and they’re all from reputable contractors, LaBerge said.
In addition to the mess left on the side of the road, the garbage posed a potential risk of blocking storm and sewer drains, he said.
LaBerge said there’s no chance the dump was accidental.
“I could see a bag of garbage falling off the back of your truck, but I’m not convinced you could drop 3,400 kilograms and not be aware of it. I don’t think it’s accidental,” he said.
The garbage was dumped on a road in an industrial area in the middle of the city and not anywhere near the landfill, he said.
City crews cleaning up the mess said the incident is a first.
“You go down any back road and people throw out their old couches and fridges, but to get this much garbage on the side of a city road, they’ve never seen anything like this before,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Nanaimo RCMP or city bylaw services.