Call to tackle toxic waste
Science teacher urges government to hire recycling co-ordinators
Miranda Scotland
Northern News Services
Published Monday, May 19, 2014
UQSUQTUUQ/GJOA HAVEN
Nunavut may not currently have the funds to upgrade landfills across the territory, but there are steps the government can take to reduce the amount of toxic waste entering dumps, says a Gjoa Haven science teacher.
Adam Malcolm is asking the territorial government to hire a recycling coordinator in each community to "promote and implement the diversion of the most toxic household and business-generated waste from landfills to southbound sea cans for proper disposal."
He's set up an online petition at change.org to encourage other Nunavummiut to support his idea. As of press time, 45 people had signed it.
"My main objective is to rouse a response and some public debate about the issue and raise awareness," said Malcolm, who is originally from Nova Scotia.
"In the three years I've been living up here, there has been very little tangible progress made in terms of waste management in this community and in many others. It's my last year teaching here in Gjoa Haven and I guess I just want to see things are beginning to move in the right direction as far as waste management is concerned."
Jennifer Ullulaq of Gjoa Haven is among the signatories. A mother to a three-year-old baby girl, she wants a safer, cleaner environment for her family and the territory's animal population.
"It seems like not much has been done," she said. "There is garbage everywhere outside."
Ullulaq said she is concerned about the dump burning garbage and releasing toxins into the air. She wants the burning to stop and for toxic waste to be shipped elsewhere.
Malcolm's solution is a good idea, added Ullulaq.
A media organization reported in 2011 that federal inspection reports indicated raw sewage and toxic waste was leaking into the environment from a number of garbage dumps and sewage lagoons in the territory.
The 2010 reports also noted that many hamlets are operating without an up-to-date water licence or without following federal law.
The government commissioned Arktis Solutions to do a cost-benefit analysis of selected solid waste management approaches.
They found the optimal solution was to modify landfills by ensuring they're fenced in and separating municipal, hazardous and bulky waste, among other measures. The estimated cost is $9.5 million.
Earlier, the government determined through running pilot recycling programs in Iqaluit, Kugluktuk and Rankin Inlet that establishing recycling across Nunavut would cost $18.2 million on top of annual operating and maintenance costs.
Malcolm believes the solution he's proposing would be cheaper and relatively uncomplicated.
At the outset, he said, the recycling coordinators would encourage people to participate on a voluntary basis. Perhaps tickets to a draw could be offered as an incentive to residents who drop off recyclables, he added.
Once a number of businesses and residents are on board, recycling could be made mandatory.
Co-ordinators might even be able to strike a deal with shipping companies to get discounted rates to send waste to a single-stream recycling depot down south, said Malcolm.
"You have to start small and you have to hope change can snowball and progress can be made. But you have to crawl before you can walk, in terms of waste management here, at least. So far we're hardly crawling," he said.
"I hope more people sign the petition."
