More tickets written since new illegal dumping regulations kicked in
Posted Nov 8, 2022 08:44:00 PM.
Efforts to step up the battle against illegal dumpers appear to be helping.
About a year ago, Halifax Regional Municipality began enforcing enhanced measures aimed at reducing the number of illegal dump piles.
“So far to date, we have investigated 300 cases and we've issued 33 summary offence tickets,” the team lead of HRM's solid waste department, Kirk Symonds said.
“To give you a reference point, in the previous year we only had seven summary tickets issued across HRM.”
The new illegal dumping regulations include penalties ranging from $500 to $10,000.
HRM also hired more enforcement staff and introduced a “reverse-onus” policy.
“Simply put, if a person's name is found in the dumped waste, they are automatically identified as the owner or the person responsible for that waste … until they can prove that is was somebody else that did it,” Symonds told CityNews Halifax. “It's a very effective tool for us.”
If you've hired a contractor, he recommends making sure they are properly disposing the waste.
“I think people will often hire people and they assume they've taken the waste to the proper location,” he said. “We encourage people to get the ticket from the disposal site. Make sure that it is disposed of properly.”
“In a lot of cases, people may be responsible for illegal dumping at they may not even be aware of it.”
Dump sites can be reported by calling 311. Symonds said they aim to clean them up as soon as possible.
“Sometimes when an illegal dumping site starts, we have to get that dealt with immediately because people will see it starting to pile up, and other people will start illegally dumping there,” he explained.
And often items found in piles can easily be donated or disposed of legally and for free.
Haligonians are allowed to put one bulky item — including furniture and appliances — at the curb per collection.
Tires are another item often illegally dumped, but those can be returned to any tire retailer in the province for recycling free of charge.
And don't forget, throwing your trash in a business's bin or dropping your bags off in front of someone else's house also counts as illegal dumping.
