What was being called a “dump site” in the middle of Wallaceburg, has now been completely cleaned up.
At the beginning of June, Wallaceburg resident Pat Davis raised some concerns about several steel barrels and about a dozen steel dumpsters located on the property at the corner of Duke Street and Murray Street.
He told the Sydenham Current that he witnessed a young boy almost fall into one of the dumpsters and was concerned about the “unknown contents” of the barrels.
There was also some confusion over who owned the land, as the Municipality insisted the land in question was owned by CSX.
After the complaint was made to the municipality, the steel barrels were removed.
However, the steel dumpsters remained on the site until just recently.
Davis said he is very thankful the site has been properly cleaned up.
“Overall I was extremely pleased with the municipal response,” he said. “I am grateful to both Jeff (Wesley) and Sheldon (Parsons) for their diligence in pursuing an outcome which successfully addressed public safety and environmental concerns. I also commend those members of municipal staff who were thorough in following the process which was in place. It is my hope council will do its part by enacting a bylaw or amending regulations to ensure this situation cannot reoccur in the future.”
Davis added: “Finally, I would commend Sydenham Current for bringing this issue to the public’s attention, which no doubt was a key factor in achieving this very positive result.”
Sources say an “order to remove” was sent to CSX by the municipality to have the dumpsters, some garbage bags, cardboard boxes and loose garbage removed from the property by July 18.
If the property owner did not act upon the order, the Municipality would have cleaned up the site and added the costs associated with it to the tax roll, according to sources
