The owner of an Edmonton apartment building is complaining about ongoing and costly illegal dumping on properties like his across Alberta, after capturing surveillance footage of a recent incident.
Brian Paul installed video surveillance this month at his apartment building at 11821 105 St. in north Edmonton in an effort to curb illegal dumping, which he said took place every three to four weeks. Within days, his camera caught the latest episode.
On Saturday, Jan. 19 in the late afternoon, a blue pickup truck can be seen pulling up to the dumpster behind his building. Two people unload what appear to be several pieces of furniture before driving off within minutes.
“It’s annoying,” Paul told Global News over the phone from Calgary, where he lives. “It’s on the property owners to get rid of it.”
It costs many apartment buildings in the province $1,000 to $3,000 a year to dispose of illegally dumped items, according to Berry Meckelberg, the vice-president of Magnum York Property Management. The company looks after Paul’s building in addition to others across Alberta.
“I can’t put up with it. Landlords can’t put up with it. Management companies can’t put up with it,” Mackelberg said.
“It’s endemic, and it’s just people shifting costs onto somebody else.”
To discourage dumping, The City of Edmonton recommends property owners take steps such as keeping sites clean, increasing the frequency of garbage pick-up and installing appropriate signage.
Residents who are considering illegal disposal should “put themselves in someone else’s shoes,” said Chantel Perizzolo, the city’s acting coordinator of general enforcement. “There is a financial impact on the person who is the victim of illegal dumping.”
The city doesn’t track the number of illegal dumping incidents on private property, she said.
In Edmonton, anyone caught illegally dumping can be fined between $250 and $10,000.