Illegal dumpers put on notice in south London

Fed up with garbage being dumped along roadways and in vacant lots, one south London resident is fighting back with his cell phone.

On Thursday, Allan Tipping was driving along Dingman Drive when he spotted a woman tossing trash bags in his neighbourhood.

“She was throwing garbage out of the vehicle onto the ground,” Tipping recounted. “I caught up to her around the front of the Value Village (on Wellington Road). When I told her to go pick up her garbage her response was, ‘Yeah, yeah, I will.’”

He pulled out his cell phone and snapped pictures of the driver and her vehicle’s license plate before she drove off— leaving the five garbage bags of trash in the snow.

Frustrated about the persistent problem in the Brockley-Shaver neighbourhood near London’s W12A Landfill, Tipping sent pictures and information to municipal by-law enforcement at city hall.

Orest Katolyk, director of Municipal Compliance, told CTV News that illegal dumping is a significant problem in every city, “We can't be everywhere all the time, so we rely on the information that is provided to us from residents. I want to personally thank the residents that saw this specific violation.”

Privacy rules forbid Katolyk from commenting further on the specific enforcement that was taken—but he did suggest warnings are not usually issued for illegal dumping.

“The fine for dumping could be up to $5,000, and we take very much a zero-tolerance approach,” he added.

In comparison, the city charges just $2.00 per bag to dispose of bagged household garbage at its EnviroDepots, or with the purchase of “bag tags” that permit additional waste (beyond the three-container limit) to be picked up at the curb on collection days.

Katolyk added that the likelihood of getting caught on camera is growing.

“The reality in this day and age is that either somebody's watching with a cell phone, or else you are on [security] camera,” he said.

Tipping believes the city’s willingness to use his pictures in their investigation will encourage his neighbourhood to remain on the lookout, “How would you feel if we dumped our garbage on your back door? Or at the back of your property? It's disgusting!”

Complaints about potential by-law violations can be emailed to [e-mail].