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Trail trash needs amnesty

Environmental eyesores and illegal dumping in and around Yellowknife continue to reveal the truly ugly nature of some people.

As we approach Earth Week -- the annual celebration of air, earth and water -- it's simply a shame that some people continue to dump all forms of detritus on the land and into lakes. On any given day, you can come across mattresses, appliances, burned out vehicles or fish and animal remains. It's impossible to get into the minds of those who would abuse Mother Nature in such a fashion. Is it the way they were brought up? Is it symptomatic of a larger personality disorder? Or are there some more practical, albeit still unacceptable reasons, such as being unable to afford dumping fees?

It does cost $162 to dispose of a beater vehicle at the city dump, $70 for a fridge with Freon, and $10 per vehicle hauling household waste or animal carcasses.

There are amnesty days twice per year where residents can drop off excess garbage at the dump and have the fee waived but that's only for residential waste. The other more expensive tipping fees still apply and are never waived or reduced.

Is it any wonder then that just about any clearing off near any side road outside of Yellowknife contains its own treasure trove of discarded dishwashers, fridges, batteries and washing machines? Or come winter, ice roads spider-webbing onto area lakes invite the same?

On Great Slave Lake recently, Yellowknifer discovered two large piles of rotting fish on a spur road far out onto the lake just south of Post Island. The area is well-travelled, with fishing nets and what appeared to be under-sized and other undesirable fish frozen into blocks. It's illegal for fishers to waste any fish that is suitable for human consumption.

Residents also recently came upon the remains of a caribou carcass at a site a few kilometres from the sandpits on Highway 3.

Yellowknifer columnist Walt Humphries has come across plenty of illegal dumping on Commissioner’s land in his day. That is former Crown land which now comes under GNWT jurisdiction.

While on the Vee Lake Road, he saw a line of old rusting vehicles that have been burnt and riddled with bullet and shotgun holes.

"There is another in the bush surrounded by an old washer, dryer, hot-water tank and assorted garbage and debris," he wrote. "This is only the tip of the iceberg of all the garbage, litter, appliances, abandoned camps and junk you will find strewn across Commissioner’s land and in the lakes as well."

In 2005, after the city implemented a number of tipping fees at the dump for the first time, including what was then a $5 levy for household waste, Humphries presciently predicted people would simply start tossing their broken appliances at the side of the road.

“If you've got a fridge and you want to get rid of it, why would you pay $35 when you can go Saturday morning before 10 a.m., and just throw it at the gate?” Humphries wondered.

As pointed out earlier, that fridge fee is now $70. Understandably, the city wants to recoup the expense of disposing these more difficult to process items. But there is clearly a segment in our community who will never pay a fee to unload their junked appliances and vehicles and, in a city surrounded by forest and seclusion, it doesn't seem there is much will or capability to catch these trash scofflaws in the act.

If we are at all concerned about keeping nature free of this litter, then government will have to periodically step in and remove it (and then disposed of at the dump).

People caught dumping illegally deserve having the book thrown at them but it would seem wise next time the city holds an “amnesty week” at the dump – May 19 to 25 -- it truly is an amnesty – for all items. That way, people unable or too cheap to pay tipping fees are given a proper incentive to at least occasionally do the right thing. We would bet periodic amnesties are a more cost-effective solution than what is going on right now.

The city should at least try one so we can compare to the status quo.

One more thing, this will seem like a little horn-tooting on our part, but on the same trip where we found the piles of dead fish, we also found an abandoned, burnt out truck left on the ice. We called the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and had a story in our newspaper and on our website.

The next day, the truck was spotted back in town.

Lesson here is if you see junk outside of the city, report it. The alternative is complacency and more trash in the great outdoors.