Up in smoke

DENISE RIDEOUT

One year after a local environmental group called on the city to stop burning garbage at Iqaluit’s dump, black clouds of smoke are still billowing into the sky above the city.

And that has the group, Citizens for a Clean Iqaluit, wondering if they’ll see the day when less garbage goes up in flames.

Paul Crowley, a member of Citizens for a Clean Iqaluit, closes his window before the wind can blow the stench of burning garbage into his home. “It’s still burning,” Paul Crowley says. “I’m looking at it right now.”

Last July, the group of concerned Iqaluit residents started lobbying city council to end its long-standing practice of burning the heaps of trash piled up at the dump. Citizens for a Clean Iqaluit argued that toxins produced by the open burning were detrimental to people’s health, as well as to the water and land nearby.

The group also put pressure on the city’s administration to follow regulations set out in its municipal water licence which required Iqaluit to stop burning plastics by June 1, 2001. The water licence, issued by the Nunavut Water Board, also stipulated burning be limited to food waste, paper, cardboard and untreated wood.

But the city was in the midst of a labour dispute when the June 1 deadline rolled around and it didn’t have the capacity or the time to deal with water board regulations.

The city also struggled with a lack of capital dollars that were needed to install an incinerator at the dump — a move that would have cut down on the open burning of garbage.

Crowley, who is trained as a lawyer, even took the City of Iqaluit to court last summer to get an injunction against the open-air burning.

The judge ruled against Crowley, saying he failed to offer concrete proof that the burning was causing irreparable harm to Iqaluit residents.

One year later, Citizens for a Clean Iqaluit are frustrated that the trash is still going up in smoke.

“We wanted it to change last June 1, when the water board put a limit on burning,” Crowley said. “We’re disappointed that it’s still happening.”

But Crowley is quick to note city council has made strides to improve the situation.

Last year, for instance, the city launched a paper recycling program for local businesses.

Then in December, a broader recycling program that includes plastics and metals, was introduced to Iqaluit households.

City council saw recycling as a way to cut down on the amount of plastics, paper and metals ending up in the trash pile.

Crowley agrees the recycling programs are helping. But, he said, the recycling program needs some improvements.

“It should be made mandatory. A voluntary recycling program is rarely effective. There’s still a lot [of plastics and metals] going into the burn pile,” he said.

Now, Citizens for a Clean Iqaluit has a new campaign: to convince the city to stop burning garbage by October. “The end of the construction season is what we’re hoping for,” Crowley said.