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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Junker vehicles have been ditched on the side of the road in and around Yellowknife for some time, but getting them cleaned up is not an easy feat.

According to Walsh Lake resident Mel Palmer, his route home along Vee Lake Road is scattered with not only abandoned vehicles that have been there for a long time, but also with old appliances and garbage.

This abandoned vehicle on Vee Lake Road is one of many forgotten junkers that can be seen scattered in and around Yellowknife. - Katherine Roth/NNSL photo

"It would be nice if somebody would step up and help with getting rid of all of it," he said, adding part of the problem is the lack of people willing to take responsibility for removing the junk.

Not only are the abandoned items unpleasant to look at during his drive home, but they can be dangerous as well and need to be cleaned up, he said.

"It's going to continue until somebody puts some sort of thing together to prevent it. Maybe some money collected for the tipping fees could go towards hauling stuff that gets dumped away."

Problems deciding who is responsible for abandoned cars continue to arise. Where the vehicle is, how long it has been there and whether ownership of the vehicle can be determined are only a few factors that must be dealt with.

Officials with the Department of Transportation could not be reached for comment by press time regarding the removal of abandoned vehicles outside of city limits.

According to Yellowknife's manager of municipal enforcement, Doug Gillard, in many cases cars left in lots throughout Yellowknife are not the responsibility of the city, but those who allowed them to be left there.

"If (an abandoned car) is on the road, we deal with it," he said. "But in some cases there is permission given at some point for the vehicle to be there, and then it becomes the problem of the property owner."

This is the case for many cars in the Kam Lake industrial park, since they are mostly in parking lots as opposed to on the side of the road. Gillard said the reason behind most of the vehicles being left in the lots is the high cost for disposing of them.

"There is a dumping fee of $100 plus towing and storage fees that add on to it," he said. "Then someone has to come in and remove fluids and contaminants from the vehicle before they are compacted, and there is cost involved in that."

The fine for abandoning a vehicle ranges from $50 to $2,000, and Gillard asked for help from the community in finding out who the culprits are so they may be penalized.

"If people see abandoned vehicles and they want to report them to us, the sooner we get on top of it the better," he said. "The longer it sits, the colder the trail gets. People can move out of town or what have you."

Last year, several vehicles were cleaned out of the government wharf in Old Town after the Department of Fisheries and Oceans ordered their removal from the federally-owned lot.