Fuel spill near garden part of Whitehorse's illegal dumping problem

A fuelspill reported this week near the Whitehorse Community Garden is just one example of the city'sgrowing problem ofillegal dumping,says acityofficial.

"Weekly, prettymuch, we get calls from residents around the city for waste that's been disposed of either in the greenbelt, or the bushesor just around the city illegally," saidDaveAlbisser, manager of wasteand water services.

"So it's certainly costing the city in the thousands of dollars a month."

He estimates illegal dumping inside city limits is costing taxpayers up to $50,000a year.

The City of Whitehorseis starting to track tipping fees and staff time associated with the clean up of illegally dumped materials to draw attention to the problem.

Fuel drum dumped near garden

A fuel drum that was recently dumped on city property near the community gardentippedover and spilledabout 50 litres of what is believed to diesel.Environment Yukon spills inspectors were alerted to the incident on Monday and were assisted in the clean up by the city.

Albissersaidcrews believe less than a cubic metre of soil was contaminated. Thesoil was excavated and soil surrounding the area has been sent for testing to confirm the contamination has not spread.

Randy Lamb, chair of the Downtown Urban Gardeners Society which runs the garden, said he saw the barrel last week.

"I thought someone was just dropping off on the side of the road a barrel that they thought we might be able to use," he says.

Lamb says there haven't been big problems with illegal dumping at the garden in the past, although he saidits tucked away location has occasionally made it a depository for miscellaneous items, including one case ofan abandoned car.

Clean up costs

Albisserestimates the cost of the cleanup to beabout $2,000.

Albisser said there tends to be a rash of illegal dumping around the time when tipping fees are increased. He saidthese fees, which vary depending on the materials, are based on how much it costs the city to deal with waste.

The amount it costs individuals to properly dispose of their waste at the dump is a fraction of what it costs the city to deal withillegally dumped materials, he said.

The city is holding its annual household hazardous waste day on May 23, which isan opportunity for residents to drop off items such as paint products, vehicle batteries and other toxic materials at the dump for free.

Environment Yukon is investigating the spill and asksanyone with information to call the spill hotline at 667-7244.