The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A downtown resident is urging the city to halt a longstanding practice she says is contaminating a civic treasure. Phyllis Sorensen says the garbage mixed in with the snow and dirt that city workers remove from Flin Flon streets is ending up in Ross Lake. 'The amount of pollutants that are making their way into that lake is incredible,' she says. Sorensen lives not far from the city's snow and dirt dumping area near North Avenue Park. It o v e r l o o k s 'Se c o n d Valley' adjacent to Ross Lake. She says rain, running water from melting snow, and wind are carrying the debris within the dumped material into the lake. And it's not just an environmental concern. 'Garbage dump' Sorensen says the dumping area, visible from the south entrance of Flinty's Boardwalk, is 'basically a garbage dump' that hinders Flin Flon's beauty and appeal to tourists. 'It's a slight on the city to have tourists walking this beautiful boardwalk and coming across all of this garbage,' says Sorensen. 'I've heard people from out of town say they've never seen a city so dirty.' Adds Sorensen: 'It's like a slap in the face to the people who have worked so hard to build that boardwalk and make the city attractive.' See 'Other' on pg. 3 Continued from pg. 1 Sorensen says she has shared her concerns with various mayors and city councillors over the years, but to no avail. 'I feel like nobody's listening,' she says. But Sorensen still hopes the city will dump the dirt and snow somewhere else. Coun. Bill Hanson says the city has and will continue to discuss alternate dumping locations, but there is no guarantee the site will change. 'If somebody has a good idea for where we can put a snow dump where it won't create other problems, great, I'm always open to suggestions and ideas,' he says. Hauling the dirt and snow to a location further away would add to the city's costs, Coun. Hanson says, at a time when expenses are being trimmed. He agrees the litter within the snow and dirt is 'unsightly' but does not believe it is polluting Ross Lake. The city has in years past sent summer students to clean up the litter, he says. Coun. Hanson says an advantage to the current site is that the material is not dumped right beside somebody's house. Sorensen, who has seen vehicles at the site at night, fears another possibility: motorists driving into the dumping area and over the edge. She says she has already suggested the city bring in boulders to prevent that from happening.
