A regional government in northwestern 小蓝视频 has been penalized almost $43,000 for repeatedly failing to manage municipal garbage, electric fencing and combustible recyclables in one of its landfills.
The landfill, which sits off Highway 37 about two kilometres north of the community of Iskut — itself about an hour’s drive south of Dease Lake — is run by the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine.
The facility is surrounded by forest and rangeland pastures, and borders a creek that flows into a nearby lake. It has held an operational certificate to dispose of garbage since 1977. But over the last several years, the regional government has repeatedly breached the terms of that agreement, according to a recent decision from Jason Bourgeois, director of the Environmental Management Act.
In 2020, Bourgeois noted that the regional district failed to fix a broken gate and properly electrify a fence surrounding the landfill. Black bears, grizzlies and wolves repeatedly accessed and entered the facility. As a result of their failures, that summer conservation officers “were forced to destroy five bears.”
In the years since, the regional district continued to contravene its operating certificate.
Kitimat-Stikine is required to “take all reasonable effort” to prevent the scattering of litter at the landfill. But on Aug. 2, 2023, inspectors found garbage strewn along the perimeter of the landfill, including inside and outside the fence line, as well as in vegetation west of the facility.
On 12 occasions between 2022 and 2024, the regional district also failed to operate its electric fence with a minimum voltage of 6,000 volts. The operational requirement is meant to prevent harm to both wildlife and humans.
“The failure to comply with this requirement presents, at a minimum, a risk of harm to human health and the environment through bears accessing and entering the facility,” wrote Bourgeois in his decision.
The director also found that the regional district had failed to maintain a log book recording the dates that cover was applied to the garbage at the landfill. And on Aug. 16, 2024, the regional government failed to maintain 15-metre fire break around an area that received and stored combustible materials.
The regional district was given 10 warnings over five years. The repeated and continuous nature of the violations led Bourgeois to increase the penalty.
“There is no evidence that [the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine] exercised due diligence to prevent the contraventions,” the director said.
The Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine has 30 days to appeal the decision.
The penalties are the latest in a string of recent sanctions against governments for poorly operating landfills in 小蓝视频
In February 2024, the 小蓝视频 Minister of Transportation was handed a $21,500 administrative penalty for failing to rein in garbage and maintain electric fencing around a landfill near neighbouring Dease Lake. The series of violations led conservation officers to kill a bear that had accessed the facility looking for food.
And in June 2024, the City of Chilliwack was penalized $11,000 for failing to maintain an electric bear fence and properly cover municipal waste at a local landfill.
