Zone 1 site under threat

Publication: Sunday Sun
Paper Section And Page: 5A
Paper Date: Sun, Feb 25, 2001
Byline: By Julie Wilson


INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES have dumped another 400 tonnes of garbage in the highly important Zone 1 water area, using the Waterford access road in St Michael.

Yesterday the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) removed abandoned cars and car parts, fridges, stoves, air-conditioners, mattresses, tree stumps, a dismantled chattel house, drums, and the carcass of a dog in a five-gallon drum, among an assortment of personal and industrial waste.

From 7 a.m., staff of the SSA used Bob cats, Caterpillars and trucks to clear huge piles of garbage from the illegal St. Michael dump.

SSA St Michael West area supervisor Michael Nicholls said this was the fourth time in two-and-a-half years the site was cleared by his department.

Disgusted by the recurring problem, he said public health officials were putting measures in place to block the two entrances to the site. Nicholls said: "Because the road is secluded, people are taking advantage of the situation. I want to appeal to the public to desist from this illegal dumping because this [Waterford area] is a Zone 1 water table area. People who dump garbage here may not realise it, but they are doing the country great harm."

He also said that similar work would be carried out at, other illegal sites in Bibbys Lane, New Orleans, Black Rock and Hothersal Turning in St Michael. Workmen will return to Waterford today to complete the task.

General manager of the SSA Chris Griffith said that site was cleaned up repeatedly and it was a major drain on the authorityıs equipment and manpower.

He said not only was it a major water contaminant, it was also a breeding ground for rats and mosquitoes. He said dumping of this magnitude demonstrated that a segment of the public had no regard for the safety of the environment in which they lived.