Rural B.C. residents bear brunt of illegal dumping

Beautiful British Columbia has a problem with an invasive and difficult-to-control pest: illegal dumpers.

They're leaving appliances, household garbage andunsightly surprises strewn across the province's rural regions.

Jamie Barth, a Canadian Forces veteran who lives in Union Bay on Vancouver Island, often encounters the illegal garbage.

"I can tell you the most disgusting thing I've ever found," said Barth, 56. "A 10-litre pail of dog poo that has been sitting in the sun for a year. Let's put it this way, I walked in the house, took my clothes off and burnt them."

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In less thanthree years he'shauled nearly 300 loads of trash weighing more than 20,000 kilograms overall.

TauseefWaraich, manager of recycling and waste management for theCowichanValley Regional District, said illegal dumpingis a real concern in rural areas.

'A big issue for us'

It alsohurtstaxpayers because of lost landfill fees,Waraich said.

"We have lots of parks, lots of hidden areas so illegal dumping is quite a big issue for us," he said.

The district only has one part time bylaw officer who patrols and enforces anti-dumping bylaws, he added, so it relies heavily on residents to report dump sites and record descriptions of the perpetrators.

He estimates illegal dumping costs the district between $100,000 and $150,000 a year in lost landfill fees, money that the district can't reinvest into waste management systems.

The city of Prince Rupert estimates it spends between $250,000 and $300,000 on litter and trash each year, including staff wages and community grants for events like shoreline cleanups.

The budget line can't be broken downto show justillegal dumping costs, but it's an issue staff deal with daily, according toVeronikaStewart, the city'scommunications manager.

The coastal fishing town hasan extra-smelly version of dumping to manage.

"We have an issue with fish waste," Stewart said. "It's right on the water around the docks when there's significant commercial fisheries going on."

"It sits and rots and then local people who are awesome go clean it up."

Too few resources

OutsidePrince George,the small community of Miworthhas encountered problems with illegal dumping.

Residents oftenpostvideo and photos on a Facebook page, showing perpetrators and seeking advice for how to stop theinflux of trash to theircommunity.

Conservationofficers in the area said theydon't have the resources to patrol the countless rural and side roads.

"In 2017 alone we've got a total of 20 dumping files," said Eamon Mcarthur, a conservation services officer in the Prince George region. "It's a significant amount."

But conservation officers, who work under the Ministry of Environment,are responsible for enforcement, not cleanup.

The district saidit's in the early stages of developing relevant bylaws and policies on the issue.