South Shuswap residents will have a longer drive ahead of them if they need to dispose of recycling and household garbage as the Skimikin transfer station is closed.
The station was closed on Tuesday, April 10 due to a strong chemical odour coming from a can of bear spray that was discarded in one of the bins and then punctured, releasing its irritating vapour. The CSRD closed the transfer station as a precautionary measure. It is expected to reopen on Friday, April 13 for its regular hours of operation.
According to Ben Van Nostrand the CSRD’s environmental health services team leader, after the employees on site noticed the irritant in the air, they evacuated and closed the site. Firefighters from the Tappen hall responded and approached the site with gas detectors before discovering the can of bear spray
The Salmon Arm landfill is being reccomended as an alternative option.
Van Nostrand said the proper place to dispose of hazardous material such as bear spray is at the Salmon Arm landfill on Saturdays, when their free hazardous waste depot is up and running. He said it is best to err on the side of caution and dispose of any pressurized or unlabeled containers at the hazardous waste depot insted of with regular garbage.
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