Christine Kay
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 08/02) - In what looks like an aircraft hangar filled with garbage, you can find Dean Tarbett.

He sits sheltered from the grind and away from what he says are the most disgusting birds on earth: seagulls. He operates heavy equipment, and works on landfill operations.

Today, Tarbett is working in the control room at the Yellowknife city dump.

He says there are lots of treasures to be found in the piles among the fish flies and ravens but you won't catch him digging through it. He just doesn't have the time. When he's at the dump, he's at work. When he's not at work, he's at the cottage.

YKlife: When did you start working here?

Dean Tarbett: I've been here for four-and-a-half years. I do everything from recycling to landfill operations to heavy equipment operator. I've been with the city for 14 years.

YKlife: What did you do before the city dump?

DT: I worked at the arena with community services. I drove the Zamboni. It wasn't bad but I got sick of going around in circles all the time.

YKlife: Where are you from, originally?

DT: I'm from Newfoundland originally. I came to Yellowknife in 1979 when my parents came up.

YKlife: What's it like working with garbage all the time?

DT: It's not bad as long as you're in a piece of equipment. It's not very often you've got to get down in the garbage.

It's a good job but it stinks to high hell in the summer time.

YKlife: Do you carry a deodorizer in your car or something?

DT: No. No. Our work boots and clothing stays here.

We have showers here but we don't use them. You'd probably end up dirtier than when you went in.

YKlife: What kind of things do you see at the dump?

DT: Everything comes out here. People put caribou carcasses in wrecked vehicles and bring them out here. It's illegal.

One guy towed the car in, left the caribou in the trunk.

He didn't figure anybody was going to look, but he'll be going to court soon for sure.

YKlife: Are there usable cars out there?

DT: Yeah. They drop in on a regular basis - like four or five a summer kind of thing. People just bring them, leave the keys and take the plates.

YKlife: So, do the workers here fight over the cars?

DT: No. Like I said we are city employees and it wouldn't look good. The public doesn't like to see their civil servants picking stuff out of the pile.

YKlife: So, are there any other treasures on site?

DT: Oh, there's all kinds of people that find stuff up there like coins.

You name it, they find it. All you got to do is look. On the weekends, the road is packed up and down. It's like a highway.

Sometimes it makes it very difficult to get our work done.

There's at least 100 cars coming in and out a day and that's on a slow day.

It's just like a mad house in here sometimes.

YKlife: What's your least favourite part of the job?

DT: I'd have to say stacking the bails on a 30 C degree day. We have no air-conditioning and you can't open the windows because the bugs would just get it. It gets pretty hot. Nothing bites you, there's no mosquitoes or nothing. It's just those fish flies.

YKlife: What's the most dangerous part of the job?

DT: Garbage comes in. It comes in and it never stops.

The most dangerous thing around here is operating the equipment. It's not unusual to be up there with a bulldozer and 10 feet away there will be a guy and a kid standing there. Some people just don't have any respect for the equipment at all.

YKlife: Have you ever encountered any dangerous materials?

DT: Well, we get everything in here from asbestos to contaminated soil. If the hospital mistakenly throws syringes in the garbage, we'll get them to come recover them. We don't touch that stuff. That's about the most dangerous.

YKlife: What about the animals, do they ever come around?

DT: We see Sandhill cranes, wolves, bears, wolverines, lynx, and even some hawks or eagles.

YKlife: Are the bears a big problem?

DT: We have the bear fence hooked up right now. If we didn't, they'd be eating the garbage and they could cause a seen with some of the people on site.

YKlife: Is this the only dump in Yellowknife?

DT: Well they've been dumping here for more than 30 years now. It's a huge piece of land. I know there are old dump sites out there at William McDonald school. There's a dump site under their soccer field. Back Bay Park, too. There's a little dump site under the playground.

YKlife: So what do you think will happen to this place in the end?

DT: This will be a big golf club or something like that.

YKlife: What's the busiest day at the dump?

DT: Monday, for sure. We getting anywhere from 11 to 13 trucks scheduled to come in. Tuesday we only get four so we get some time to do some recycling.

YKlife: How days a week do you work here?

DT: I work five days a week. It's not very often I work a weekend. In the summer time, we get the students to do it.

YKlife: What do you do with your time off?

DT: I have a cabin out in Prelude East. I'm just thinking about moving in permanently. It's winterized. I got hot and cold water, plumbing. I like to fish, too.