Calgary residents tired of barrage of trash from ‘garbage tornado’

From any distance between six to 10 km a day, Monique Trudeau and her trusty pup Storm are pounding the pavement somewhere around her southeast Calgary neighbourhood of Copperfield.

But she says that stroll has produced a disappointing sight over the past couple of weeks.

“There’s geese that have babies in (that pond) every year, there’s ducks,” she says. “It’s just really sad for the wildlife.”

Those ponds have become inundated with trash from the nearby Shepard landfill facility on 130th Avenue SE, particularly after a major wind event on Apr. 24.

On that day, thousands of pieces of trash could be seeing flying into the air and fences at the bottom of the landfill were smothered with plastic bags and other items.

City crews worked diligently to clean up the aftermath, even being called in for overtime.

But Trudeau — and other residents — say a trio of retention ponds didn’t get that treatment.

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“None of the garbage directly in the ponds ever got cleaned up. Now it’s just an environmental hazard sitting there, damaging the pond itself — and of course, the wildlife.”

Fred Adair, who lives in nearby New Brighton, says it’s been a growing issue during his 11 years in the community.

“It’s just ridiculous here… this is extreme,” Adair said back on April 24, with garbage flying all around him.

“But when the wind is 20, 30 (km/h) this is an occurrence all the time.”

In a statement to Global News, the City of Calgary says there are several measures it takes to mitigate this problem when the wind is up, including deploying a mobile catch barrier, covering open areas more quickly, and even saying no to certain materials until the weather calms down.

But Ward 12 Coun. Mike Jamieson says the evidence shows that combination isn’t working well enough.

“We can’t stop the wind,” Jamieson said. “As the landfill grows and the amount of debris (increases), you need a better physical barrier in the case of wind.”

Jamieson says he’ll be meeting with the city’s Waste and Recycling Services department soon, and encourages folks in the area to report anything they see to 311.

But neighbours hope more action than just another cleanup can help the next windy walk stay cleaner for humans, dogs and everything else that calls the area home.