Toronto adds garbage dumps during strike

Three new dumps at Clairlea Park Arena, Campbell Park, L’Amoreaux Park
And trash sites shut at Earlscourt Park, Ted Reeve Arena Wishing Well Park

By Kris Scheuer
(Written July 15/09 for Town Crier. For July 24 UPDATE click here.)

Three more neighbourhood garbage dumps have reach capacity at Earlscourt Park, Ted Reeve Arena and Wishing Well Park forcing the city to close them tonight at 7 p.m. In response a trio of new temporary trash locations will open tomorrow morning. “All closed sites will continue to be patrolled round-the-clock by both security and city staff and all health and environmental protection measures will continue,” solid waste manager Geoff Rathbone said at a media briefing this afternoon. Starting on July 16 at 7 a.m. three new temporary trash sites will open: Clairlea Park Arena in the parking lot at near Warden and St. Clair Aves. Campbell Park outdoor rink at 225 Campbell Ave. near Dupont St. and Lansdowne Ave. L’Amoreaux Park’s parking lot at 100 Silver Springs Blvd. east of Birchmount Rd. and north of Finch Ave. East. For an updated map of the sites, click here. “Inspectors from Toronto Public Health monitor the sites on a daily basis,” city manager Joseph Pennachetti said today. “As the (city’s) medical officer of health has said in the past temporary garbage sites do not pose a health risk (if) they are well-managed, which they have been. Pest control measures are in place to prevent problems.”  The city’s website indicates temporary refuse locations are chosen based on the following criteria: located on city-owned property with preference given to paved areas to minimize environmental impacts, close to a community for reasonable accessibility, and with a large capacity for garbage.  The goal is also to locate them a reasonable distance away from residential buildings, but Rathbone indicated there is no specific distance a dump site has to be from homes.  It’s now day 24 of the strike and there have been 24 temporary neighbourhood trash sites. Nineteen opened on June 25, five have been added including the three today and two on July 3. As of today, five sites have reached capacity, leaving 19 temporary locations to shoulder the trash burden. Another option is seven permanent waste transfer stations. One of the reasons the dumps are filling up fast is there is no limit on the number of trash bags residents and small businesses can drop off.  “In order to support easy and accessible access again we are ensuring no limits on the number of bags that can be delivered to our temporary drop-off sites or (seven) transfer stations,” Rathbone said. “As well, we have seen many who have assisted in picking up litter and bringing it to the drop-off sites or helped their neighbours.”