Illegal dump site forces B.C. government to clean up 90 tonnes of waste

CRANBROOK, B.C. – The B.C. government has taken on the roll of the junk man and cleaned up 90 tonnes of illegally dumped waste metal on Crown land northeast of Kimberley, B.C.

The material was on an old dump site that has been closed for over 40 years, but people continue to drop off their old cars, car parts, appliances and other garbage at the site.

A local recycling contractor has hauled away 29 large truckloads of metal, and government officials took away six truckloads of discarded tires.

It’s the second time Ministry of Natural Resources workers have cleaned up the area, but this time they’ve blocked access to the road leading into the site and are ticketing anyone caught dumping illegally.

Under the Environmental Management Act, people can be issued tickets up to $575, assessed a penalty of up to $1 million and or imprisoned for a maximum of six months.

The B.C. governments says the clean-up costs to taxpayers $3,000.