Are The New Barriers At The Foothills Land Fill A Make Work Project

Monday, July 05, 2010 03:45 AM

If the Regional District of Fraser Fort George is hoping to achieve efficiencies at the Foothills Landfill site, a little casual observation will show that is not the case.

There was a time when people dropping off their garbage could back right up to the wall and dump the refuse directly into the container below. No so anymore, instead, garbage is being off loaded (onto the ground in many cases) and then trucked over to the containers because concrete parking barriers have been installed to prevent vehicles or trailers from butting up against the walls which lead to the bins below.

The result of that action is obvious, people are required to take more time trying to dump their refuse because of the barrier and furthermore any garbage left on the ground in front of the containers must be picked up by staff at the land fill site.

It is a perfect make work project, on the other hand, the problem is that people dropping off their garbage are not seeking a make work project.

To add insult to injury when Opinion250 tried to take some pictures of how the system was working they were told that they couldn’t take pictures without the approval and authorization of the "Supervisor".

Now you might want to ask, under whose authority does the Landfill operate? It is after all a public facility, paid for by your dollars, on public property.

Is the Regional District concerned that perhaps someone from say the Cariboo Regional District might slip in and take some pictures of how this region disposes of its garbage? Or is it more likely that the real reason was the back lash from the public over the new system?

The reason the tire barriers were installed, we are told, is that one day a young person fell into a container and was hurt. That resulted in a law suit said one employee. Will barriers which prevent you from getting to the container wall stop that from occurring again? Not likely.

They say that time is money, but you wouldn't think that in your latest visit to the Foothills Landfill.

I’m Meisner and that one man’s’ opinion.

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Posted on Monday, July 05, 2010 03:45 AM in Views by Ben Meisner

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Comments

Posted by: SummerSoul on July 5 2010 6:25 AM

This is the biggest thing to bitch about in Prince George? Get real.

Posted by: hammmy on July 5 2010 6:36 AM

Its a little inconvenient SummerSoul that's all Ben's saying!

By the way,have you dumped any garbage there yet!

Posted by: faxman on July 5 2010 7:29 AM

They'll stop you from taking pictures but have they ever enforced the "no idling" rule? I've never seen them attempt to enforce it.

Posted by: pgmatt on July 5 2010 8:07 AM

I did not understand the logic in doing this. It is a real pain in the ass to unload anything now.

Posted by: rayban68 on July 5 2010 8:19 AM

Nice truck

Posted by: rufus1 on July 5 2010 8:23 AM

Can't take pictures??? For crying out loud where in God's name do we live --- eastern Europe, China? We should know who it is, their names, behind these restrictions.

Posted by: PrinceGeorge on July 5 2010 8:28 AM

The last few times when I took bags with grass clippings and branches from pruning (all in orange garden bags) I was asked if it was suitable for composting and if it had any dirt and gravel in it.

I affirmed that it did not and was assigned the number of the bin that is for clean compostable material only.

When I emptied my bags out a fellow was backed up right to the hand rail (there was no tire barrier yet) and he was shoveling dirt and gravel from the bed of the truck across the lowered tailgate right into the bin (#6) where they specifically asked not to put any DIRT OR GRAVEL!

I can't blame the staff for putting up the tire barriers which prevent that kind of abuse from happening!

Some idiots always seem to be ruining things for normal people!

Posted by: Palopu on July 5 2010 8:29 AM

This could be one reason why the cost of dumping at the landfill went up, and of course we the taxpayers will foot the bill.

Even a simple thing like garbage disposal can be totally screwed up by the City or Regional District over time.

Dropping off garbage in Prince George in Containers used to be free. After they built the new facilities at 18th Ave and Quinn they charged $2.00, then $4.00 then $6.00, and they got rid of the swap shed.

The new garbage system that was to save us $75,000.00 per year, actually costs us abut $1 Million per year.

So there you have it. Government run business at its best.

Posted by: sjm on July 5 2010 9:11 AM

Now watch the number of bush dumps increase as people get po'd with the new routine! We tried to take an old stove on the weekend and didn't realize they didn't open til 10am on sundays.

Posted by: seamutt on July 5 2010 9:28 AM

How about when two of the swap sheds where shut down because they got messy and oh my some people where trying to resell some of the stuff dropped off. Now the messy part, staff at the transfer stations spend most of their time stitting around. After I drop something off at the swap shed I don't care what happens to it. If someone finds my stuff useful or can make money from it, more power to them.

With these swap sheds closed I wonder how much more stuff is just trashed. So much for recycling.

Posted by: Rounder on July 5 2010 9:37 AM

Next rule will be that you have to wear a safety harness when you are in the back of the truck.

Just make the guardrail higher so when a truck backs up to the rail the person in the back of the truck is protected by the railing.

Posted by: maritimer on July 5 2010 10:40 AM

This is most likely the lawsuit they were referring to.

http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20091007/KAMLOOPS0101/310079986/-1/kamloops/-1m-award-for-man-who-loses-leg-at-dump

Posted by: Harbinger on July 5 2010 11:40 AM

I was so ticked off I went to the Quinn St. station to talk to and ask the guy in charge about the stupid height of the 4 inch pipe put across the access to the bin up here west of town to prevent (stupid) people from falling in. My F-150 tailgate is three inches below this pipe. Not good for me. I use an old cheap tarp and just pull it to the end of my truck in order to unload it. My suggestion was to put up a chain link fence between the people and the bin and people could stuff their clippings through the fence. Might take a little longer, but.... With that scenario, what could happen? Bunch of ninnies they are.

Posted by: saywhat on July 5 2010 12:34 PM

Harbinger
The people working at the transfer stations are low paid people hired by a different company that has the contract with the city/regonial district.They have no authority to make any changes.All they get to do is listen to complaints and clean up after everyone.
If you have any suggestions for the sites you should talk to the city or regional district.

just to let you know

Posted by: PrinceGeorge on July 5 2010 12:46 PM

"...and they got rid of the swap shed."

It was reported here some time ago that there had been a physical altercation at a swap shed, people fighting over some junk.

They had to shut it down to avoid being perhaps sued by some injured nut head.

Some idiots screw things up for normal people.

Posted by: rambleon on July 5 2010 1:24 PM

I backed my vehicle up to the stops and unloaded it with absolutely no problem at all. It was a little father to throw the bags but in no major way was I inconvenienced by it. Seemed like a simple and effective safeguard from having a person accidentally pinned against the rail by a truck. Lord knows if that happened at the landfill everyone now complaining about the barriers would instead be on the soap box about the Regional District's lack of interest in protecting the public.

Posted by: He spoke on July 5 2010 3:53 PM

I'm sorry, but if you that stupid and you fall into the garbage bin. Guess what Darwin had a theory about these things.

Posted by: rambleon on July 5 2010 4:24 PM

Darwin has a theory, but civil litigation suits follow a different one.

Posted by: interceptor on July 5 2010 4:28 PM

Remember that no matter what you do, nothing is your resposibility - someone else is always to blame. the lawyers get richer, the insurance rates get higher and general life becomes more of a pain...

Posted by: gus on July 5 2010 6:14 PM

Has anyone figured out yet why we have adopted "newspeak" and call garbage dumps landfills?

How gullible we are!!

Posted by: SummerSoul on July 7 2010 6:14 AM

Yes, hammmy, I have taken trash to the dump since the barriers were installed. I found them no inconvenience.
As to the swap shed, it is filled with electronics like old television sets which supposedly are being recycled using that fee we pay on all new electronics. I have seen this material thrown into the bins and no one seems to care. Today's electronics in a "landfill" leach the toxins that poisons tomorrow's water.

I'm SummerSoul and this is just SummerSoul's opinion.