Four individuals charged with illegal dumping
Four individuals have now been charged under the Cape Breton Regional Municipality’s newly minted illegal dumping bylaw.
The charges stem from a vow by lawmakers and law enforcement officials to crack down on those who fail to deposit their household garbage in designated sites, and instead dump it in various wooded areas across the municipality.
The illegal dumping section is just part of the new Solid Waste Resource Management Bylaw that was passed in February by municipal council.
The maximum fine under the dumping section is $697.50.
Municipal councillors, police and even media outlets have been peppered with calls from local residents discovering various illegal dumping grounds after the melting of winter snow.
Councillors and police have vowed to step up enforcement and local media, including the Cape Breton Post, have featured stories and pictures of a number of sites where everything from diapers to washers have been tossed out in undesignated and unprotected areas.
Between October 2017 and March of this year, the municipal waste management hotline has received some 86 complains involving 69 different dumping sites.
Charged are Blair Joseph Frison, 34, of Blackett Street, Glace Bay. The offence is alleged to have occurred between April and May. Frison is now scheduled to enter a plea to the charge July 20.
Also charged is Donald Gordon MacDonald, 72, of Atlantic Street, Reserve Mines. The offence is alleged to have occurred in April in Reserve Mines. MacDonald is to enter a plea July 20.
Mitchell Anthony MacDougall, 29, of Grand Mira South, is also charged. The offence is alleged to have occurred March 19 in Sydney. MacDougall is scheduled to enter a plea June 1.
The fourth person charged is Trevor Seelye, 26, of Ash Street, Sydney, who is alleged to have committed the offence between November and December 2017 in Glace Bay.
Seelye is now scheduled to enter a plea to the charge June 6.