Regional District Makes Anti-Dumping Video
Thursday, October 17, 2013 @ 3:59 AM
click on video above for Regional District’s message about illegal dumping
Prince George, B.C. – The Regional District of Fraser Fort George has produced a video which tries to encourage people to examine all their options before they illegally dump garbage.
On September 1st of this year, the Regional District, which operates the Foothills Landfill, starting charging for all but accepted recyclables and compost bin destined loads. The fee is $6.00 per 100 kgs and the fee doubles if the load was not “secured”.
The switch to a “pay-per load” system raised concerns there would be an increase in illegal dumping activity.
In a report to the Regional District’s Environment and Parks Standing Committee which meets today, Operations Leader Dana Ferguson says the first month of the new pay-per load system generated $34 thousand dollars in revenue. That offsets the $16 thousand dollars spent to implement the new system.
According to Ferguson’s report, line ups to get into the Foothills Landfill have decreased, as have wait times, and the number of customers visiting the site in general.
It is also noted there has been a 38% drop in the number of bins that were hauled in September compared to the same month in 2012 when there was no fee charged. However, that may be offset by the activity that is taking place at transfer stations throughout the region, where there has been a slight increase in the number of bin hauls from several rural transfer stations.
Increases in bin hails from rural transfer stations have been noted at Shelley, Cummings Road, Miworth, Buckhorn, and Chief Lake.
There has been an increase of 6% to 30% in waste at certain transfer stations. For example, the transfer station at Vanway received 134,000 more kgs of waste last month compared to September 2012. That’s a 27% increase.
The fee per load was not the only new measure introduced last month, as some people had to pay extra money because the load entering the landfill had not been secured or covered. Such loads will cost the driver double the small load fee. There were 20 unsecured loads that were hit with the double fee last month.
Comments
Im really curious what qualifications the dump clerks have to determine the line between secure and insecure loads. Did they receive specific training and was this training evaluated by them having to demonstrate their competence to a qualified trainer or recognized body like cops or DOT?
That looks like someone’s back yard in the hart.
The people that dump illegally don’t give a crap about any video.
Posted by: censored on October 17 2013 4:45 AM
Im really curious what qualifications the dump clerks have to determine the line between secure and insecure loads. Did they receive specific training and was this training evaluated by them having to demonstrate their competence to a qualified trainer or recognized body like cops or DOT?
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I always thought one had to be a peace officer in order to assess a fine and not some flunky working at the dump.
As for the video and it’s message, is anyone surprised that illegal dumping has increased?
I have a swipe card but I also live about 5 dollars worth of gas away from the landfill. I used to go to the landfill once a month; my recycling and refuse dutifully separated but I can’t do that anymore since I’ll be over the 100KG threshold. Now I go every two weeks and just dump the recycling and garbage into the garbage bin. The attendant tells me I can dump my garbage, keep the recycling in the truck, exit the dump then get back in line to unload (free of charge!) the recycling. Seriously? I’m already making an extra trip into town now I’m supposed to spend an extra 10~20 minutes idling around the landfill? Not going to happen.
This seems to be a couple of steps backwards to me.
No Way has it right…
“The people that dump illegally don’t give a crap about any video.”
“Waste” of time and money.
Ha Ha pun intended.
I wonder what the cost was with that excavator in the video. Multiply that by 200 just to clean up the new garbage dumps that have popped up all over the city because of the new policies…right on rd.
I asked about the secured load and they seem to be pretty easy going about it. The attendant told me “just look like you are trying. Put a tie strap on or something”. Its not a DOT fine. If you really wanted perhaps you could fight it, but how much can you fight for $6?
Sorry, but RDFFG is encouraging dumping in the bush. Having to run around to enter the landfill site twice to deal with the garbage and recycling, someone in the ivory tower needs to get there head out of their butt. Its bad enough the Quinn street Transfer station is shut down, now you want us to go thru all this crap.
NoWay has stated it correctly.
“The people that dump illegally don’t give a crap about any video.”
Bang on, NoWway!!!
“According to Fergusonâs report, line ups to get into the Foothills Landfill have decreased, as have wait times, and the number of customers visiting the site in general.”
And this means what? More people assemble a load of close to 100KG instead of going a bit more often with a lesser load?
Did they keep records of the vehicle weights as they came in and left before the implementation of the fee? Surely that is the data which would tell whether there has been more material or less material brought to the landfill.
Without that information one just has anecdotal crap which one can send to the electronic dump on their RDFG computers.
A suggestion for the RD after reading Axman’s comment: If they wanted to make this a little better, why not place the recycling bins on the Foothills side of the scales/fence. Pull in, drop your recyclables, then pop into line and drive in over the scales for your garbage.
Actually I think the reverse would be better
1. drive up with both recyclables and refuse.
2. vehicle with both loads gets weighed
3. drive through to offload the refuse
4. get the vehicle weighed going out and pay for the weight of the refuse dumped
5. stop at the recyclable bins and dump the recyclables (including compostables)for free.
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The Ospika facility had two separate chained and gated compounds. I cannot see how one can do it without two separate compounds.
Gus – “It is also noted there has been a 38% drop in the number of bins that were hauled in September compared to the same month in 2012 when there was no fee charged.”
I would say that means there is physically less garbage coming in.
People are still producing the same amount of garbage. It’s just not going to the landfill the same way.
Some of it may be going into commercial dumpsters at buildings around Prince George–this is likely illegal.
Some of it is getting dumped out in the bush…
Not sure that this user fee is such a good idea. Ever been to Mexico? There is garbage everywhere. How long before the area starts to look like Mexico?
Noway said it all, the jerks who dump illegally will not be swayed by a crappy video, which has the seemingly essential background music at a higher volume than the narrators (DUMB!) The video is a waste of time and money, but all levels of government seem to have a bottomless well type budget for useless gestures.
We live out of the city limits, and have separated our waste & recyclables for years, usually going the the dump once maybe twice per month. Now, because our dump loads are likely over 100 kg. in total, I do the landfill boogie; go in, dump the recyclables, drive out, turn around and go back in to dump the waste. It’s a “waste” of time for me, and for the staff, but I am firmly against paying twice for the handling of our household garbage and yard waste.
I second the motion to have the recycling bins placed outside the entrance to the landfill. You would still have to go across the scales to drop off oils, tires and metals, still a p.i.t.a. but not as asinine as the situation is now.
metalman.
“It is also noted there has been a 38% drop in the number of bins that were hauled in September compared to the same month in 2012”
Bins of what? The bins with recyclables? The construction waster bins? The refuse bins?
Dumping fees, whether by bins, by city garbage, by pickup truck, or whatever is measured by weight, not by bins.
Give me the info in the same measurable units which define the amount to the best accuracy, then we can talk. Anything else is anecdotal and meaningless.
Interceptor, why bother having weigh scales on the highways if we could get the same information by counting the number of trucks passing by a given point with a camera, license plate reader and electronic counter?
$34K in increased revenue, how much to clean up the illegal dumping?
wth are you talking about Gus? I was just pointing out that the dump says they are moving less garbage. Nothing more nothing less.
ps – I dont actually want an answer to that question ;)
The Quinn St. transfer station worked good, and would have worked even better if it was free. They originally charged $2.00 to dump, then $4.00 then $6.00, and then they closed it down.
We now have a perfectly good transfer station sitting idle, and somewhat of a chaotic situation at Foothills. The City supposedly saves $260,000.00 per year by having the RD look after our garbage.
Very simply put, we had a situation that worked quite well, although it may not have been revenue neutral, and we now have a somewhat stupid way of handling garbage in the greater PG area, all at the cost of the citizens of PG. (Whats new)
Who ever came up with this scheme should be held responsible, and perhaps asked to seek employment somewhere other than the City.
The problem still remains that Foothills Blvd up to the landfill is still a mess. I want to see By-Law enforcement on the loads going to the dump.
It’s not only Foothills that has this problem Sloth. The brain dead live everywhere around the city.
Is there such a thing as a bylaw enforcement officer for the Regional District, and if so what does he do.??? The Regional District is much to big to be policed by bylaw officers, and somehow I doubt that the Regional RCMP are involved in illegal dumping. City bylaw enforcement officers (in theory) could police the situation within the City Limits.
Part of the problem was the City changing how it handles garbage within the City limits. This was a dumb decision, and was made for all the wrong reasons. Since when is it necessary for City departments to operate at cost, or generate revenue.
Having a good working garbage disposal system should be a number one priority for the City. Seems we are failing in this area.
Comes the Election some people need to move on, or be moved on.
Look at traffic heading down North Nechako Road towards city limits and the cutbanks before the reserve. Always just before dark, always loaded and always heading back 10 minutes later empty. Where does the load go?
I used to go to the dump when I needed to clean out my garage or basement. I don’t know what I will do now. Look for an unlocked dumpster at a commercial building? Dump it by the river? Who knows. The 6 dollar tipping fee is dumb. Add a 10th of one percent to the regional district mill rate and go back to dumping your junk in the dump and not in the river.
On the recycling front, why does the PG Citizen (and any other newspaper for that matter) deliver papers and flyers to your door every day but make no effort at getting it back to recycle?
If I ever got a ticket from a garbage dump flunky for not securing my garbage to his standard, I would certainly come unglued.
“I was just pointing out that the dump says they are moving less garbage.”
Moving less bins does not mean they are moving less garbage …. THAT is all I was saying….
What are you talking about interceptor?
PGguy: “On the recycling front, why does the PG Citizen (and any other newspaper for that matter) deliver papers and flyers to your door every day but make no effort at getting it back to recycle?”
Why should they? Take them (and the newspaper) back to the recycle bin yourself.
PGguy: “If I ever got a ticket from a garbage dump flunky for not securing my garbage to his standard, I would certainly come unglued.”
Typical PG defensive response from someone who doesn’t want to take responsibility for his carelessness.
For those who are going to dump in the bush dump on the side of the roads. Let highways and city crews pick it up.
JB, Typical PG defensive response?
Not at all. I have never left my driveway with an unsecured load. I use rope, nets, my tonneau cover etc. My point is that it is a judgment call by someone probably not trained to make it correctly.
If you can deliver a paper to my door every day, you sure as hell can pick one up and recycle it. Not saying they have to. Just saying that it would make them look like they give a $hit about recycling.
I don’t recycle everything. I do my best but the city makes it difficult.
The idea of paying the guy in the gas guzzling old beater step van to drive 10 miles while dumping a ton of crap into the atmosphere only to pick up 3 pounds of cardboard is ridiculous.
“why does the PG Citizen (and any other newspaper for that matter) deliver papers and flyers to your door every day but make no effort at getting it back to recycle”
Who else does that? The sellers of beverage bottles, cans, etc. do not do that. They put a deposit on it, structure the financing of the return in such a fashion that there are container return depots that will give the deposit back when they are returned.
I want 5cents back when I return my newspaper to the same recycling depot …. and my glass bottles …. and my cereal boxes …. and my empty food cans …. etc. etc.
“The idea of paying the guy in the gas guzzling old beater step van to drive 10 miles while dumping a ton of crap into the atmosphere only to pick up 3 pounds of cardboard is ridiculous.”
You got that right PGguy1234!!!
There is not a single person in this part of the world who is looking at the integrated system of the function of recycling and all the issues and costs as well as revenues associated with it.
Remember, we are not at war when we did not have enough metals to go around to build the tools of war. If we did not do the amount of mining we do these days we would not be able to support foreign countries to build high tech mining equipment and ships to transport all the ore and coal to places where they actually produce metals for manufacturing.
We waste materials, dump them in land fills, and never give a second thought to the throw-away life we have created for ourselves.
Posted by: gus
“We waste materials, dump them in land fills, and never give a second thought to the throw-away life we have created for ourselves.”
Exactly!!
Too much of what could be recycled is thrown out, and the blame does not lie entirely on the consumer. We need to stop manufacturers from producing ‘planned obsolescence’ in the products they make and sell by the millions, for example Apple, and their Ipods/Pads etc. and many others.
metalman.
metalman.
So the landfill in all likelihood is now taking in nearly 40% less garbage as they were before the new fees…. Its a green PG I guess?
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