Yellowknife (May 24/06) - A smell not unlike the portable toilets after Folk on the Rocks is in the air as seagulls compete with about a dozen people salvaging for something of worth in the Yellowknife landfill.

Tom Hawes shows a GT Snowracer he salvaged during a recent outing at the city dump. "You can find some great stuff in here, this is perfect, just a bit of tape on the steering wheel and you're ready to go," he said holding his latest find. - Jason Unrau/NNSL photo

It's about four o'clock on a Friday afternoon and while the gulls are looking for something to eat, Sam Bardi is on the hunt for building materials.

"Friends of mine are building a cabin down near Boundary Creek," said Bardi .

He is one of the dozens of Yellowknifers who poke through the pile of discards every day. was looking for wood, insulation and pretty much anything else that could be used to construct a cabin.

Bardi's a regular here, saying he visits, "Pretty nearly every day."

"You can have good days and bad days," he explained of what his luck has been while hunting in the dump. "I've found artwork down here, but the best was the day I found a table saw and directional saw. It must have been $1,000 in equipment."

Landfill manager Bruce Underhay says the busiest days are on the weekends in summertime.

"We average 700 vehicles a day then," he said. "Now I can't tell you how many of those are salvagers, but I can tell you we get a lot of them."

Underhay, who has worked at the city's solid waste facility since 1997, believes this practice has been going on since the landfill opened in 1974.

While there has been much discussion as to limiting salvagers' access to the landfill or banning it outright, salvaging continues during regular hours, with restrictions on Monday's and Fridays between 8 a.m. and 3:45 a.m., so workers can operate heavy equipment without fear of running somebody over.

Underhay says he doesn't mind the salvagers, but urges them to use caution and their common sense.

"Sometimes, we see kids running around with sandals in the summer," he said. "So there's been talk of not restricting the salvaging but trying to make it safer."

Back at the salvage area, Bardi picks up a motorcycle helmet with the Union Jack painted on it, examines it before throwing it back on a pile of shoes, clothing and books.

"Here sits evidence of the broad range of human behaviour," he said, staring at the variety of items, much of which Bardi feels was thrown out not because it was useless but because it was the simplest way of getting rid of it.

"We've been living high on the hog too long. I've been saying that for years and the landfill is a perfect example."