There’s a lot of trash talk in Moose Jaw right now – and one resident is fed up by the impact of living near the city’s dump.
Carmen Zinn moved into her newly rebuilt home a month ago after it was destroyed by a fire. Now, she’s facing another big problem – trash on her property.
“The last year and a half has really become a problem with all of the garbage,” she told CTV News.
Garbage is blowing all along Caribou Street, getting caught in fences and trees of nearby residents.
“I’ve been able to fill my truck full of plastic bags,” Zinn said.
The bags she spends hours picking up are blowing over the Moose Jaw landfill’s fences and onto nearby properties. Zinn is also charged $10 each time she brings the garbage back to the dump.
“Me taking the time to do anything of any garbage return to them should not be charged,” she said.
Zinn is also concerned the blowing garbage will decrease the value of her home.
“We had our previous home that was here appraised, and that appraisal from the realtor did depreciate because of the landfill,” she explained.
The City of Moose Jaw said it has a simple solution – picking up the trash.
“Send crews out to clean up the garbage,” said Josh Mickleborough, director of engineering services with the city. “What would happen in that case is the residents or concerned party would call us and bring it to our attention. Then we would deploy crews to clean it up.”
Zinn said that’s all she can hope for.
“Clean the garbage up,” she said. “There are no ifs, ands or buts. Nobody wants to drive in the countryside and see trees that are full of plastic bags.”
The city said it recently changed its policy, so the landfill is covered in soil five times a week instead of three. It feels that will help reduce some of the garbage that’s ending up on people’s properties.
Based on a report by CTV Regina's Brittany Rosen
