Prince George, B.C.-  The issue of cancelling  garbage  pick up from  commercial customers has struck a chord with  several  members of  City Council.

The Solid Waste  department had  made the decision to cancel the  commercial pick up saying  it takes  a long  time and staff have to cover great distances to get the job done.  In addition, Manager Sean LeBrun  told Council there has been “An increase in illegal dumping,  increase in needle collection,  it’s taxing.”

So, in effort to keep up with the  extra pressures,  Solid Waste  made the decision to  cancel commercial pick up so staff  who  normally provide those services can  be redirected to deal with illegal dumping and  hypodermic needle pick up.

Councillor  Frank Everitt called for the matter  to go back to staff for further  information  and called for more  enforcement.  Brian Skakun  says  picking  up illegally dumped  garbage  makes it seem “OK”   he, along with Councillor Terri McConnachie echoed the call for more enforcement.  Skakun also suggested the  “Needle Exchange” is a misnomer as  thousands of needles  are not “exchanged” and pose a risk to the public.  He suggested the City  call on Northern Health to  help cover the costs of  picking up the  used needles.

“We can shame  the people who do illegal dumping  till the cows come home, but it’s not going to  change their behaviour” said Councillor Jillian Merrick.

There are a number of  private contractors who can service the  commercial  customers who  were scheduled to have their  last  pick up on Sept. 2nd, but  the move to cancel  pick up is on hold  until  the matter has been reviewed by Staff to see how the issue might best be addressed.

Councillor Everitt added   illegal  dumping is  not just a Prince George  problem,  “It’s a problem in every community” he also supported having  more conversation around how best to  deal  with  discarded needles.

Mayor  Lyn Hall  “We have a problem we need to address”.  He suggested the matter also be discussed with  Regional District because of the impacts of litter from vehicles heading to the Foothills Landfill.