Members of the Okanagan Forest Task Force say they made a shocking discovery when they found a truck-full of hazardous construction material in Kelowna’s Upper Mission.
“I was on one of my patrols when I noticed this school bus size pile of rubbish. Filled with construction, renovations and demolition stuff,” Geoff Marshall, an Okanagan Forest Task Force member, told Global News on Saturday.
“When I first discovered it, I was absolutely appalled and disgusted, heartbroken. The pile had broken glass in it, boards with nails sticking out.
“A lot of people use this area to let their dogs run around.”
The organization’s president, Kane Blake, came to take a look at the mess and though cleaning up illegal dumps is what the task force does, he says this one isn’t typical.
“We’re within five minutes of being in the major part of the city and we’re not even in the bush,” said Blake.
“This is an upper class neighbourhood in Kettle Valley; this isn’t something you would see in this area.”
The illegally dumped material was within eye shot of numerous homes in the north Kelowna neighbourhood.
After closer inspection, Blake said an important discovery was made.
“We did happen to find, in one of the garbage bags, an address with a name,” said Blake.
“That was handed to bylaw and the RCMP.”
According to Blake, bylaw did pay a visit to the address, and the very next day the pile had disappeared.
Bylaw did not respond in time for broadcast but clearly someone got the message and came back to clean the mess up.