Landfill Fee Changes Causing No Issues
Monday, September 16, 2013 @ 3:58 AM
Prince George, B.C. – It has been two weeks since the rules at the Foothills Landfill changed, and so far, so good.Regional District of Fraser Fort George Chief Administrative Officer, Jim Martin, says people arriving at the landfill have been receptive to the new rules. As of September 1st, the Foothills Landfill site has been charging a minimum $6 per load for non recyclable items. That amount could go up if the load is not secured, or if it exceeds the allowable weight limit.
There had been concerns the new fee at the landfill would encourage illegal dumping, but Martin says there has been no evidence, so far, of that happening. “We’re not aware of anything beyond what’s happened before and the current practices, that have gone on before we implemented these fees, probably continues at the same rate,.” He is referring to the illegal dumping that has been going on at the transfer stations where there is no fee charged .
Martin says people have been very respectful of the new fee structure “We’re getting compliments on how well we have implemented the new system and how well we are controlling traffic.” He says the traffic patters are “relatively the same, there is no noticeable difference at this time.”
But those who have cleaned up illegal dumping sites in and around the Region, are asking for a financial break. The RDFFG has received a letter a Provincial Government department asking that the fees be waived when they are doing a major clean up of such a site. In response to that letter, staff have been asked by the Board of Directors to bring back a report dealing with the waiving of tipping fees. Currently the Solid Waste Management plan’s budget allows for the annual waiving of a maximum $25 thousand dollars in tipping fees for such clean up efforts.
There is a petition circulating in Prince George, calling for the reinstatement of the Quinn Street Station to handle solid waste instead of just recycling materials. Martin says he is not aware of the petition and would need to see what the concerns are before the Regional District would respond with any course of action.
Comments
I live in area A and my issue is that with my swipe card I’m only allowed 50 visits at 100 kgs per visit otherwise I get charged extra.
I only go to the landfill about once a month so every time I will end up paying. They should just count my overweight as an extra visit.
Talk about blinders on, there is garbage being dumped everywhere.
Agree to the above post;just check out Foothills to the landfill; read today’s Citizen; it will only get worse.
It will be interesting to see the “difference” in the two scales as time progressess. I loaded up what I estimated to be about 80 – 90kgs. The one bag alone I figured to be 25kg, using my very official “yeah thats about a big sack of flour” rating system. When I unloaded and rescaled I was told I only had 40kgs on total. So either they are hedging thier scales by a bit to avoid aruguments or I am getting really weak ;)
I saw a guy at 6 this morning pull up to a random bin and unload his truck. It will start getting worse when the contractors lock the bins
Two weeks and no problems ….. wow, that’s not very long to observe a pattern develop.
The power of positive thinking at work. The more you tell yourself “I’m alright, Jack” the more you get to believe it.
How about an independent auditing method, say over a year’s time?
“people arriving at the landfill have been receptive to the new rules”
I think most people would realize that throwing a nutty would not make any change.
“Oh, you are upset?”
“Go ahead in and drop the stuff off, we won’t charge you.”
“If you come back tomorrow, Tuesday is out $2 special”
“There had been concerns the new fee at the landfill would encourage illegal dumping, but Martin says there has been no evidence, so far, of that happening”
Depends if you have blinders on. I deal with quite a few dumpsters and I beg to differ with his comments. Getting so bad we have a call in to get all of our dumpsters locked
Oh, and the garbage bags tossed in the cardboard bin is a real pain in the…
“chief administrative officer” Martin must not get out of the office much.
Also, I second the comment by Tractor, over the years,we go to the dump an average of once a month, tops, and our load usually weighs more than 100 kgs. To make the swipe card pay, so to speak, we will have to go to the dump about once a week. Hey, at least we have the option anyway.
metalman.
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