232696

Penticton  

Massive dump up Carmi

A Penticton resident sprung into action when he heard about a large garbage pile in a forested area of upper Carmi.

Chad MacDonald said he first heard of the mess on Tuesday when Ryan Aiken posted pictures of it on Facebook. 

MacDonald went to the site the next day, located just off Beaver Dell Road near the Garnet Fire Interpretative Site, and filled his truck with most of the items before taking them to the dump. 

Among the mess was clothes, electronics, a barbecue, needles, hair and a prescription container without a name, MacDonald said.

Cameron Baughen, solid waste management coordinator with the Regional District Okanagan Similkameen, said the RDOS has been contacted recently of illegal dumping in that area but wasn't sure if this particular site was recorded.

He said illegal dumping in the Carmi area and other forested areas near Penticton is a decades-old issue.

"Often when we get in there, I can tell you most of the materials are free of charge at our landfill."

He advised people who come across garbage piles to report them to the RDOS and to the province's Report All Poachers and Polluters hotline.

The province is the primary group associated with dumping on Crown land, but Baughen said the RDOS can assist groups cleaning up garbage sites in many ways.

"If people are able to do a cleanup, they can work with us and get free tipping fees... If there's any recyclables, we assist them in making sure that comes in. Garbage, bags, gloves, litter pickers, things like that we do assist," he said.

"This service is not a large service for us... But if we can assist we often do."

Many people commended MacDonald online for his actions to clean up most of the mess in upper Carmi.

He advised anyone planning to pick up the rest of the garbage to be wary that there may still be needles mixed into the pile.



More Penticton News