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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - It doesn't make any sense that salvageable material can't be taken from the dump, even if it comes from a restricted area, says a man who was reprimanded for doing just that last week.

"I took four or five pallets. Why would they kick me out?" said Harvey Field. "It's a dump. That's what you're supposed to do."

Harvey Field holds two wooden pallets from the city dump's commercial cell on Wednesday. Just two days before, he had been warned by staff to stop salvaging scrap wood from the restricted area. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

Field said he was caught on Jan.12 taking wooden pallets from the Solid Waste Management Facility's commercial dumping cell, which is restricted for commercial use only.

He said he was approached by a facility employee and told to put the pallets back. Field, who said he has been salvaging wood from the cell for firewood since last fall, said he refused and that the man told him to leave and never come back.

The frequent salvager said not only does it make little sense that the cell is off limits, but he thinks the facility does a poor job keeping people out with few no admittance signs or a gate. He said he didn't see the restriction sign located on the edge of the path leading to the cell because at the time it was completely frosted over.

Waste facility manager Bruce Underhay said the confrontation did happen but denied Field is currently barred from the landfill.

"He was told if he was seen (at the cell) there again, we will call municipal enforcement," said Underhay, adding people are banned from the cell primarily for safety reasons.

"Before we had this in place, when the trucks went to dump, the people would be right at the back of the trucks waiting for the material to come off, so it was always a safety issue" he said. "We also have to be able to provide a reliable service where our customers can dump safely."

Underhay said there is currently a wood salvage area at the facility with plenty of pallets where people can help themselves.

City councillor Kevin Kennedy chairs the city's solid waste advisory committee. He said the situation isn't perfect, but that the committee is considering, among other things, closing the cell to contractors to allow for salvaging once a week. Contractors are offered an incentive to separate wood for salvage from other waste. At $30 a tonne, salvage wood costs half as much to dispose of than commercial waste, which incurs charges of $60 a tonne. Local landfill critic Walt Humphries said the dump should make every effort to shed its waste and do more to accommodate salvagers. He suggests the city build a parking lot beside the restricted cell, which would keep salvagers away from contractors' trucks operating around the cell.

"It's frustrating" said Humphries. "Doing it means there's less stuff in the dump. That's the whole point of having salvage at the dump - to cut down on the waste. If they stay away from the contractors, why shouldn't they be able to salvage?

"The dump is dear to the hearts of a lot of us longtime Yellowknifers. Salvaging has been going on at the dump forever. It's one of the benefits of living up here."

Editor's note:

This story was scheduled to appear in Monday's News/North but was withheld for a breaking news story. Yellowknifer apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused.