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TBM town staff deem landfill unsafe after seeing increased traffic

The TBM has seen increased traffic at the town’s landfill in recent days, triggering the closure of the facility in an effort to maintain social distancing.
2020_03_19 Waste facilities_JG
After seeing 100 people visit in one day, TBM has decided to close the town's landfill. The closure will not impact the town's curbside pick up service. Stock photo.

The Town of the Blue Mountains (TBM) has decided to close the town landfill, the only town facility that has remained open to the public since town facilities were closed last week.

“This was the last facility that was open to the public,” says Tim Hendry, director of communications and economic development for the TBM. “But based on what staff were seeing at the ground level, and through support of the senior management team, the decision to close the landfill has been made.”

Hendry says in the past few days the landfill has seen an increased number of people, which he attributes to warmer spring weather.

“We actually saw over 100 people at the landfill yesterday, which is more than we would normally see throughout the week,” he said. “We noticed that there were several people at the landfill that thought it was a safe location where they could maintain their social distancing, but with that level of people coming through, we deemed that it was not safe and there were a few very close interactions between staff and the public and members of the public with each other,” Hendry says.

The TBM town staff will be updating the town’s dedicated COVID-19 webpage with information on town facilities and resources for residents. 

The closure of the town’s landfill will have no impact on curbside pickup.


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Jennifer Golletz

About the Author: Jennifer Golletz

Jennifer Golletz covers civic matters under the Local Journalism Initative, which is funded by the Government of Canada
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