Bags full of trash, polyethylene plastic, and wood shavings have been turning up in the Rigaud River over the past two months.
Roderick Ewing of Innisdale Farm & Forest in Dalkeith alerted The Review to the situation this past week. He expressed concern that if the individual(s) were not caught, the pollution would continue indefinitely.
“There have been four incidents of this dumping over eight weeks: May 5, June 2, June 23, and July 1. In all cases, I retrieved the floating bags with my canoe and piled them on the edge of Fraser Road for pick-up by the Township of North Glengarry,” Ewing said.
“These incidents appear to have occurred in the middle of the night; in one case, approximately 2:30 in the morning. I have a trail cam set up, but unfortunately, the quality isn’t great, and I’m unable to read the license plate of the vehicle used. It appears to be a pickup truck or a panel van,” he suggested.
Ewing said the dumped materials included more than a dozen floating bags, with six or more other empty bags stuffed into another, several large sheets of polyethylene plastic, and even children’s pool toys. In addition to the trash, a noticeable amount of wood shavings was also dumped into the Rigaud River.
The Review reached out to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks (MECP) to confirm whether they were aware of the situation and what next steps would be taken.
MECP Media Representative Lindsay Davidson explained that “Ministry staff will follow up with an attempt to identify the responsible party and the extent of the impact from the improperly disposed waste. As an initial step, staff from the Cornwall Area Office will contact the Township of North Glengarry to obtain additional information.”
In terms of prevention and reporting, Davidson highly recommended that anyone who witnesses dumping in the region contact the MECP office in Cornwall at 1-800-860-2760 or 613-933-7402 to report an incident.
“Should the responsible party be identified, Ministry staff would hold them accountable to address any applicable infractions of provincial environmental legislation,” Davidson concluded.
The Ministry is now investigating and urges residents to report any suspicious activity.
Photos Submitted by Roderick Ewing:
