Sophie Carrigan Gray
Local Journalism Initiative
One man was taken to hospital Tuesday morning after crushing a container full of chlorine that had been improperly disposed of at the Osoyoos Landfill.
The man is an employee of the contractor that operates the landfill. He was compacting freshly dumped waste when he drove over a container full of solid chlorine pucks, inhaling some of the discharge from the crushed pucks. He was able to remove himself and call for help.
“It is clear this spill was caused by someone improperly disposing of a pail of solid chlorine pucks into the Town’s waste system,” said Sgt. Jason Bayda, Osoyoos RCMP Commander.
Osoyoos RCMP replied to the call for help, where they found the man in medical distress. The affected man and other employees on scene were quick to react to save the man from further injury.
Work Safe BC, the BC Ministry of Environment and an environmental agency visited the landfill after the event occurred to assess the situation and clean up the damaged pail and chlorine pucks.
“This should be a reminder to all that disposing of hazardous materials into a waste container can cause serious injury or death to those working with the garbage down the line,” said Sgt. Bayda. “Hazardous materials need to be disposed through the proper disposal [or] recycling process.”
