The municipalities of Campbell’s Bay and Allumettes Island are calling on residents to be more mindful of their waste disposal habits, after reporting issues regarding blockages to their respective sewage waste systems in the last couple months.

After reports of blockages in three separate parts of the municipality’s waste system, since January, Campbell’s Bay Mayor Maurice Beauregard said it was about time to notify the community to be careful about what they flush.

Last week, the municipality took to Facebook to convey that message to reach as many residents as quickly as possible, in hope that they would listen.

However, the root of the issue is not a matter of ignorance rather than a matter of education, Beauregard said.

“I don’t believe that any of this is done maliciously,” said Beauregard. “Just people not understanding what they can flush and what they can’t. So we’re trying to educate people on what they can do.”

Most of the waste responsible for the blockages consists of grease and other materials such as rags and cloths, according to Beauregard. But at least things didn’t get out of hand.

“It was a fairly big piece of cloth,” said Beauregard. “Stuff like that has been causing our problems. We were lucky that we had no major consequences in peoples yards. It was caught right away. So, we’re lucky for that. Our guys are very vigilant.”

For Allumettes Island, the problem wasn’t as severe, but still prompted the municipality to call on residents to be more proactive.

According to a press release issued in February, the municipality of Allumettes Island found a large amount of non-compostable objects that should not be found in the sewage system.

Among those included wet wipes and paper towel, which clogs the pumps, thus increasing maintenance costs that spikes the cost of living as a whole.

According to Mayor Winston Sunstrum, the problem was only a minor one and has been resolved by staff people at the sewage system’s filtration site.

However, he wanted to notify residents not to flush anything down the toilet that is a wipe, a cloth or any kind of product that doesn’t disintegrate in the pipes.

“There are some sorts of wipes or cloths that are being flushed down the toilets and they’re getting caught up in a scrubber at the filtration site,” said Sunstrum. “It’s a minor problem that occurs occasionally. There’s no blockage.”

In the press release, the municipality also noted that if one isn’t sure about where to dispose of something, it’s best to put it in the garbage.

Register or subscribe to read this content

Thanks for stopping by! This article is available to readers who have created a free account or who subscribe to The Equity.

When you register for free with your email, you get access to a limited number of stories at no cost. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to everything we publish—and directly support quality local journalism here in the Pontiac.

Register or Subscribe Today!