SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Terry Banks encountered an all too familiar site after heading to Vee Lake for a relaxing afternoon late last month.
Terry Banks stands next to a pile of garbage that he found out at Vee Lake late last month before taking it to the dump. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo
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"I saw garbage out on the lake," Banks said in dismay.
"This time of year it seems like garbage is popping up everywhere.”
The Yellowknife resident returned the next day to pick up some of garbage, which included a mattress, scrap wood and metal, beer cans, old tires, and an empty fireworks box. He was pleased to see that someone had at least arranged the garbage into a pile.
"People just don't nice things for people anymore," said Banks.
Dumping trash at the side of the road is by no means acceptable, but it does happen, said Earl Blacklock, manager of public affairs and communications at the Department of Transportation. The maximum fine for illegal dumping in the Northwest Territories is $300,000.
"We've seen appliances, we've seen larger items, we've seen ordinary garbage with people coming back from the cabin," said Blacklock.
The area out by Vee Lake is a popular destination for ice fishing and younger crowds who venture there on snowmobiles and four-wheelers "to party and go fishing.”
"It's not unusual to see garbage out on the lake but people usually clean it up," said Banks. "Most of the time you wouldn't even know they've been out there after their gone."
Banks, who keeps an ice fishing hut on nearby Banting Lake during the winter, said it's no secret why people come out to Vee Lake.
"It's far away from town, and you can do what you want."
Nonetheless, the relative seclusion of the lake does not mean it should be treated as a dump, he said.
Banks said he believes tipping fees at the dump – $150 to drop off a vehicle; $40 for appliances such as old washers and dryers – is one of the reasons there is so much illegal dumping around Yellowknife. "The problem with the dump is that some people don't have the money to pay," said Banks.
As part of an effort to keep garbage off the streets, the City of Yellowknife will be offering a large item pick-up service free of charge May 13 to 17, as part of its spring clean-up program. This well be followed by a dump amnesty week from May 18 to 24, during which the city will waive the $9.00 fee to dump household trash at the solid waste facility.
Blacklock said he was unsure whether the upcoming amnesty week will help to prevent illegal dumping.
"This seems to be a much more of a random thing," he said. Blacklock said in his mind those who are dumping their trash at the side of the road are just committing crimes of opportunity.
"If people were thinking, they wouldn't be doing it in the first place," said Blacklock.
"It's not something that civilized people do, because civilized people don't leave behind their garbage."
