Boost in tipping fees cancels benefit of higher fines for illegal dumping

MONDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — City Hall is once again being tempted by a contradiction in policy as it looks at increasing both landfill tipping fees and penalties for illegal dumping.

A report to City council Tuesday will recommend a significant boost to both. The increase to tipping fees is a move to remain consistent with what the Thompson-Nicola Regional District and other regions charge, while the hike in illegal dumping fines is intended to discourage people from carting their garbage into the bush and shoving it off the backs of their trucks.

The increase in penalties for illegal dumping, which would give the City the authority to whack offenders with minimum $500 and maximum $10,000 fines, is a positive move. Bush dumping has been a major problem both within City limits and in the regional district’s territory for years, and desecrates our outdoor areas.

But here’s the contradiction. One of the reasons illegal dumping has increased is that landfill fees keep going up. Every time tipping fees are raised, so is the temptation to avoid them altogether by dumping household garbage and construction waste in the woods. Take a drive down the Lafarge road to see what we mean. That’s the dirt road that connects Barnhartvale Road to the highway near the B.C. Wildlife Park. It’s a popular spot for those who don’t give a damn to illegally get rid of waste.

If the City’s, and region’s, priority was to clean up our backwoods, the correct strategy would be to keep a lid on landfill fees and raise the penalties for illegal dumping. They’re getting it half right, but half right will do little to solve the problem.