In the heart of Winnipeg, the tranquil life of an elderly couple is besieged by the menace of illegal garbage dumping, turning their neighborhood into an unsightly landfill. Their daughter, Magda Jahgrus, relates the appalling conditions in which her parents now reside, which is marred with heaps of refuse, including discarded needles, mattresses, and tires.
Their Burrows-area home stands amidst a desolate street earmarked by two enormous piles of rubbish. The offensive debris mounts among the tall grass and weeds that sit between domestic dwellings and the nearby Alfred Ave railroad tracks.
The Jahgrus family has been a steadfast fixture of this area for two decades. Year after year, they lodge complaints about these unauthorized, reckless deposits. Despite their persistence, no effective measures have been put into place to curtail this environmental degradation.
“To list all the items discarded here would be an overwhelming task,” observes Magda Jahgrus, her finger gloomily tracing the outline of one such garbage pile. Her profound disappointment is palpable as she speaks. “My parents left their homeland and came here three decades ago, certainly not with the intention of living amidst a landfill.”
The family is often seen trying to salvage the situation by clearing the litter scattered around their property. However, the sheer size of some junk items defeats their clean-up efforts. According to Magda Jahgrus, one such pile located in an alley has burgeoned since she lodged her complaint in mid-July. The other, located menacingly close to her parents’ home, houses a makeshift fire pit, nestled amidst tall grass and the omnipresent garbage.
“I feel a deep sense of frustration with the lack of action,” she confesses, her voice tinged with distress. “I doubt such negligence would be tolerated in the south end. I wonder what it will take for our pleas to be taken seriously?”
At the other end of this narrative, Tom Ethans, executive director of Take Pride Winnipeg, suggests that illegal dumping is unfortunately an urban blight that affects all neighborhoods. “Once people spot a garbage pile-up, they are inclined to add to it,” explains Ethans. He further warns that such dumps are a fire hazard and urges citizens to dispose of their waste responsibly at designated locations to prevent such occurrences.
The City of Winnipeg’s laws stipulate that anyone caught dumping waste unlawfully could face fines up to $4,000. Jahgrus, however, stresses on the need for a solid plan to pre-empt such actions in the future.
“I’ve consistently demanded a preventative strategy rather than a reactive one,” she notes, expressing her hope that appropriate measures will be implemented to ensure the cleanliness and safety of her parents’ neighborhood, now that they can’t tidy up anymore.
Relevant authorities, including the Canadian Pacific Railway, the owner of the property falling victim to the rampant dumping, assure that they are looking into the matter seriously. Meanwhile, the City of Winnipeg advised residents to support investigations by reporting any witnessed illegal dumping activities, including the description of the discarded items and the dumpers, and by providing any relevant evidence, such as license plate numbers and photographs or videos.
