Rusty abandoned barrels pique everyone’s curiosity
Roll out the barrel (or two) and we’ll have a barrel of fun — unless they’re filled with something other than beer or monkeys.
I don’t know about you, but when I see an old metal drum with a lid on it that can’t be pried off, where it shouldn’t be, I suspect somebody dumped it there because it’s filled with vile stuff that’s hard to get rid of.
That’s often not the case, but for a guy who’s seen a lot of illegal dumping, it’s a natural conclusion to make. And also for other people, or so it seems.
Rita Monsma emailed to say she’s been wondering about two barrels that have languished on Danforth Road, north of Eglinton Avenue, since local road construction wrapped up several months ago.
“Why were these left by the construction company?” she asked, adding that a photo of the drum she included in her email to me was taken two days earlier.
“What a sight to behold!” said Monsma, noting that the barrel is next to a transit shelter in front of the St. David’s Village retirement residence, while another is just down the street.
I found a rusty barrel next to a shelter at Danforth and Trudelle Street, while a second drum is lying on its side, on the boulevard in front of an apartment building at1320 Danforth, about150 metres away.
The barrel next to the shelter had a layer of gravel scattered around it, but the lid was firmly fastened, preventing me from getting a look at what’s inside it.
While I was there, I talked to a man who came out of the seniors’ residence, who said he’s been wondering about the contents of the drum and if it was dumped there, instead of forgotten by the construction contractor.
His head and mine work in the same way. By the looks of them, I’d say it’s 50-50 that somebody dumped them.
My suspicions are confirmed by a Google Street View image taken in September 2019, which shows both barrels exactly in the same location. The construction occurred later.
Status: Whatever was in them, the barrels aren’t a problem now. Eric Holmes, a spokesperson for transportation services, emailed to say the drums were taken away Tuesday morning by city staffers.