in the dumps about the dump

[grt1]

for over a quarter century, the unincorporated area that i live in at Gullrock lake has operated a dump for the residents. Originally it was put in place by the mnr for their use, then when we moved out to the area the mnr started closing the local dumps down and if the residents of the area wanted to keep their dump open they would have to form an association to operate it. this involved getting incorporated (not cheap) and keeping the dump up to certain standards.

 

when the hole for the household garbage got full, the mnr would give permission to dig another one and show the location of where it could go. they also did annual inspections for type of material and cleanliness.

 

each time we needed a new hole, the mnr would tell us the dump is reaching the end of its lifespan and the new hole may be the last one allowed, then the hole would be filled with garbage and another one dug, with another warning about the lifespan of the dump.

 

last year the municipality started recycling and got a large government grant to construct sheds to hold all the various type of recycled materials. they made this free to everyone in the area, so in the unincorporated areas we all started recycling figuring it would increase the lifespan of our dump. we also dug a new hole, costing over $1000 and we figured it would last 5 years due to the recycling .

 

Last night one of our neighbours, a tourist operator, who sits on the executive of the dump committee with me came to he house to tell me that the mnr has identified our dump as posssible transition site for the municipality (Red Lake) because the municipality is quickly running out of room at their dump and in order to give the municipality time to do a study on a new municipal dump location, the mnr is considering selling them our dump.

 

If the mnr tells us that the dump we have is nearing the end of its lifespan, how can they justify using the site for a municipality of over 3000 households for 3 years when we have 5 tourist camps (seasonably operated) and 10 permanent households using it currently.

 

the municipal operation currently has set hours of operation, not open on weekends or past 5 pm. it draws large numbers of bears and other wildlife that scavenge in it. it also costs $2 a bag to put the garbage in.

 

the tourist operators almost all empty their fish guts after everyone is off the lake each day and this is way past the 5pm operation of the municipality, this would mean more bears coming into camp and more danger to their guests.

 

What really ticks me off is the mnr, knowing the municipality has already got property further down the highway (10km) from our dump that is already cleared and would be more than appropriate for their use, even considering the use of our dump.

 

our dump association is trying to set up a meeting with the mnr to get them to reconsider their options, but it's like beating your head against a wall .

 

any suggestions on a strategy would be appreciated.

 

end of rant,

[SylvanOwner]

Ya gotta' love the way the world works sometimes.

 

Hopefully for you they've just added your dump site to a list of potential sites in order to prove they've done their due diligence. Sounds like your dump would be an unlikely candidate due to capacity so it's likelt all much ado about nothing. Keep abreast of the process, keep sticking your nose in, keep making your points in calm and reasonable manner and in all likelyhood the process will come to the same conclusion you have.

 

Good luck