By Roy Wood

Some dumping fees have tripled in two years at the RDOS-operated Oliver landfill, creating fears on Town Council that refuse could end up being dumped in unauthorized areas.

“We’re going to see a lot of crap dumped all over the place,” said Mayor Ron Hovanes.

Concern centred on the debris resulting from the demolition of residential or other buildings.

Town Director of Operations Shawn Goodsell told council that “tipping fees” at the have dump escalated rapidly. He said material that two years ago would have cost $10,000 for disposal at the landfill now costs about $30,000.

Hovanves explained that recently-introduced recycling measures have proved very effective at reducing the amount of material being dumped, which results in a longer life for the landfill.

However, the recycling program doesn’t produce revenue and so the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen is raising the extra money to operate the landfill by increasing dumping fees.

By way of example, Hovanes said the fees to dispose of material from the demolition of a “50 to 60-year-old double-wide” would be between $15,000 and $30,000.

As a result, he said, some people would choose to simply dump their refuse illegally.

Councillor Petra Veintimilla pointed out that the issue is of particular concern to the town because eventually it will have to retrieve the illegally dumped material and pay for its disposal.

Hovanes said he would take the town’s concerns to the next RDOS meeting.