WATCH ABOVE: Every spring, the city reveals its ugly side with garbage piled where it doesn’t belong. As Kendra Slugoski reports, it’s particularly bad in some construction zones.
EDMONTON – If you’ve taken a walk, gone for a drive or looked around the city over the past few weeks, you’ve more than likely seen garbage piling up where it doesn’t belong.
“We have gotten quite a few complaints in the past 30 days,” said Troy Courtoreille, with the City of Edmonton’s Community Standards Branch.
Courtoreille says they’ve received a particularly high number of litter complaints from people who live around construction sites.
“They’re saying that the sites aren’t clean, they’re not being well-maintained and more importantly they’re not securing all the materials so the wind picks it up and it blows around,” said Courtoreille.
“Where we’re seeing a lot of challenges right now is with infill, where they have builders who are getting their work done by sub-contractors and the contractors obviously don’t have a vested interest in that community.”
Heather Stanchfield lives in Windermere in southwest Edmonton and says garbage is a problem every year in her neighbourhood.
“There’s a lot of garbage, and especially we have an issue with the nails on the roads from the construction sites; lots of flat tires, lots of garbage blowing into people’s lawns. It’s constant pick-up with garbage that doesn’t belong to us.”
She believes construction companies should take a bit more responsibility when it comes to picking up and securing their garbage.
“We pick up what comes into our yard, but as for the common areas, between the construction companies and the city, it’s not really the residents that should have to be running around picking up the garbage.”
Courtoreille says it is up to the builders to keep their debris in a secure area. If not, the company could face a $250 fine or be issued a government order. The city will then come out and clean up the site and send the responsible party the bill.
If you have a garbage complaint you’re asked to call 311.
With files from Kendra Slugoski, Global News.
Comments