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Over 8000 kg of Garbage Removed in about 4 Hours
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Brian Sibbles
On a Cold November morning, volunteers converged on the Port Perry Snowmobile Club house for a day of what was thought to be a light garbage clean up but turned out to be anything but…
An un-assuming road right in the center of Durham Region, Boundary Road is surrounded by private property and frequented by new off-roaders who don’t know any better. Illegal dumpers and a vast clan of motocross bikes have left this area abused for many years by reckless persons who give us all a bad name. The OF4WD and the off-road community as a whole attempts to educate people in the area about what use is considered appropriate and what is illegal trespassing. We also strive to support other trail users by passing on messaging about when it’s appropriate to use this trail for a Sunday drive and when it is open exclusively to snowmobilers.
It was brought to the attention of the OF4WD board that the area was getting really bad, with tonnes of garbage, people not obeying the signs, peaking the frustration of the local land owners and snowmobile clubs. Something had to be done, someone had to step up.
While this is not a popular area for OF4WD members, it was decided to do some good close to home, as many members live in and around the Durham Region. First off, we called up the local snowmobile clubs and asked if we could help them clean up the area and do some maintenance on the road for their season. Leary but willing, they agreed to working with us and the plans began. Another call was made to Lafarge Aggregates, a local land owner/business, who owns much of the property in the area. Lafarge was more than happy to help as they are constantly dealing with trespassers and complaints from other landowners in the area, about the misuse and trespassing on their properties.
The Board investigated options with the county to have dumping fees waived but was disappointed in the bureaucratic process required to get the costs covered. Not wanting to wait many months for approval, plans were formalized and a budget was set to cover lunch for the volunteers and dumping fees.
After splitting up over 50 volunteers into 5 teams on that cold November morning, everyone headed out with work gloves and safety glasses provided by Lafarge. Armed with garbage bags, front-end loaders and dump trailers, the clean up began at staggered points along the 20km road. With trailers filling fast and being hauled away, we were soon made aware that the budget was not going to cover it all - the original assessment of how much garbage was there was greatly underestimated. By 11:30 am we had spent over $1500 in dumping fees and it was decided that we would have to stop as we were going over budget. We made a small dent, but we were nowhere close to done.
Heading over to the Long Sault Snowmobile Club for some much needed lunch, we calculated over 8000 kg were taken away and that only represented 1/3 the garbage along the trail. The volunteers enjoyed their lunch however felt somewhat defeated. During our short speech, Lafarge employees, who were volunteering their time, stood up and announced that Lafarge would be covering all the costs of the day and were going to lead another charge the following weekend using some of the large equipment from the nearby quarry. What an amazing show of support from a local business. Many thanks to Lafarge!
The following weekend more volunteers hit the road once again filling two 40-yard garbage bins and grading the road slightly for the upcoming sled season. The garbage was not going to win against the hearts of the volunteers.
Since this effort, the snowmobile clubs along with the OF4WD have been working hard to correct the issues in the area, with future plans in 2013 for signage and maintenance for the area.
Another great story of volunteerism, where no matter what you ride, we are all in this together and want the same things from our trails.
A huge thank-you to everyone who attended and worked so hard. The battle isn’t over…..stay tuned to the OF4WD to see what happens next.