CARLI BERRY
news@pqbnews.com
A local resident has proposed the installation of a chain-link fence at Little Mountain near Parksville to prevent ongoing, illegal dumping.
Megan Olsen said she was disappointed with the lack of discussion after she made her presentation to the Regional District of Nanaimo’s board of directors last week.
“Nobody said a single word, I was not impressed,” Olsen told The NEWS.
A video was shown at the meeting, created by a student involved with protecting the Mt. Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve, which outlined evidence of illegal dumping.
In 2013, Olsen asked for the RDN’s involvement with the cleanup on Little Mountain.
“I just wanted to touch base if any of you have done a push to get this fixed,” she said last week to the board. “Our big concern is safety… there’s been six fatalities and four to five injuries. Another danger is falling debris.”
She also told directors there is an environmental impact.
“There has to be chemical contamination,” she said. “It (the garbage) makes it very difficult for our rescue crews. It isn’t household garbage out there.”
Olsen said a chain-link fence with signage at the parking lot area will ensure the safety of children and animals.
Olsen asked the RDN to talk to community organizations like the Salvation Army and the Society of Organized Services to offer free dumping tickets for people who can’t afford to dump legally at the Church Road transfer station, where there’s a weight-based fee.
“What we ask of you today is to aid in getting permission from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to install the fence,” she said in her request to the board at its regular meeting July 14.
She said the fence will cost approximately $2,500 to install.
“Please talk to other government bodies,” she said. “We need to all work together and get this done.”
Olsen suggested having a fence along the parking lot with zig-zagging entrances and signs to deter individuals from dumping. “It’s a good compromise with the fencing,” she said.
Jack McLean, Coombs/Errington alternate director for Julian Fell, told The NEWS he doesn’t believe that a fence will prevent illegal dumping
“Our hands are tied,” he said. “I don’t think a fence is going to work.”
McLean said that years ago there was a fence closer to the edge of the cliff and that didn’t prevent people from falling over the edge.
“I don’t know how you convince people to use common sense,” he said.
McLean said he isn’t opposed to the idea of providing signage, but a fence will not deter people from dumping.
He said locked gates or a barrier on the road would deter people from illegally dumping.
