School property trashed

By Nicki Cruickshank, Barrie Examiner November 12, 2012 

Local schools are being treated like landfills by some dirty dumpers.

The Simcoe County District School Board has voiced its concerns about an increase in illegal dumping at area elementary and high schools this year.

“It’s been happening for years, but I think this fall it’s been the worst,” said Kayla Kalalian, the school board’s environmental systems co-ordinator.

“We’ve had schools with sinks, mattresses or couches dumped, and one school even had construction materials left. There was a 200-pound bag of blown insulation left by the dumpster.”

One school having issues is Innisdale Secondary School, where dumped items include mattresses, household garbage and even bench seats from vehicles.

The issue is popping up at some schools within the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board, too.

“We have had a few isolated incidents with illegal dumping at our schools, but we’re not really finding it to be a growing concern. It’s just something we’re aware of,” said Diane Legg, board spokeswoman. “In particular, we had one school in Alcona where their recycling bin and dumpster were in an area that wasn’t easy to see. Because of the dumping problem, we moved the dumpster to a more prominent location and that helped.”

Legg said letters were also sent home with students alerting families of the dumping issue.

The public school board is still scratching its head about how to handle the influx of dumpings.

“They’ve already made the effort to load things into their vehicles, why don’t they take it to the landfill, instead of dumping it at a school?” Kalalian said. “There isn’t much we can do to stop this, other than educate people that it probably won’t cost as much as they think it will to visit the landfill.

“As a general rule, our school custodians lock up the dumpsters to discourage illegal dumping. But items are just dumped around them,” she added. “I guess another thing we could do is ask the public living around schools to watch for suspicious activity and call the authorities.”

Until the public stops its dirty dumping deeds, Kalalian said the school board has to foot the bill to remove junk.

“It’s at the school board’s expense. It comes out of the facility services department budget,” she said. “If it’s small items, we can stuff them in the school’s dumpster There have been a few instances where we’ve had to actually call in a waste removal company to take away some of the items left at schools.”

Barrie’s Sandy Hollow Landfill is located at 272 Ferndale Dr. N. and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The landfill allows Barrie residents one free load of up to 100 kilograms per residence a year, and additional loads of up to 100 kg are $10 each.

For more information, call the landfill at 705-739-4219, or visit www.barrie.ca.

Barrie Advance Nov 12, 2012

SIMCOE COUNTY – Illegal dumping is becoming an increasing concern at public schools in Simcoe County.

Couches, mattresses, household trash and other waste items have been left at various school grounds, the Simcoe County District School Board reports.

“People are leaving waste items illegally at our schools, either because they don’t know how to properly dispose of these items, or because they are trying to avoid fees associated with proper disposal at landfills,” Kayla Kalalian, the board’s environmental systems co-ordinator, stated in a press release.

School custodial staff must delay their regular duties to gather these illegally dumped items and dispose of them properly to ensure student and staff safety, she added.

Disposing of waste at a county landfill costs approximately $6 per 100 pounds, which means dumping an unwanted couch and a mattress set would cost approximately $10. Those same items on school grounds will cost taxpayers approximately $50 for removal and disposal.

The North Simcoe Transfer Station, located at 1700 Golf Link Rd. in Midland, operates Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For rate information, call 705-735-6901.