Province sending inspectors to all construction and demolition dump sites

A fire that lasted more than five days at a construction and demolition dump site in Kings County is prompting inspections of similar sites across the province.

Environment Minister Margaret Miller announced on Thursday all 25 sites across the province will be inspected. The environment department is also undertaking a review of the legislation and regulations governing construction and demolition disposal sites.

Currently the sites are inspected once every five years; Miller said that “certainly isn’t enough.”

Municipalities are responsible for regulating construction and demolition processing sites, where waste is sorted but doesn’t stay for permanent disposal. The two sites that fall under the Halifax region’s purview are inspected 20 times more often than those regulated by the province, said spokesperson Tiffany Chase.

Another order issued for Kentville-area dump

The environment department has also ordered South Mountain Construction and Debris, which operates the site near Kentville where the fire broke out, to stop the flow of discoloured water from the site. Department spokesperson Heather Fairbairn said the company complied with that order when it was issued on Thursday.

Another order, to cease operations is also still in effect. That order was issued on March 24, two days after the fire broke out. The fire was under control as of Saturday.

The site has faced several issues in the last seven years. In 2009, it was fined $500 for accepting banned materials onto the site, Fairbairn said. Then in 2014 it was issued a ticket for $1,153.95 after the company failed to submit its financial security as required. Finally, the March 2016 fire isn’t the first one of its kind at the site — three years ago another fire broke out.