Hawke's Bay mayor says town wasn't told its landfill would be getting contaminated waste

Gros Morne's trash is becoming the town of Hawke's Bay's trouble — and the mayor, Lloyd Bennett, feels blindsided.

This week, truckloads of waste began leaving a 1970s landfill site at Martin's Point in Gros Morne National Park, destined to be dumped at the landfill in Hawke's Bay. But Bennett says the town wasn't told it was going to happen.

"Nobody knew anything about this. This was like a clandestine type operation," Bennett said.

Bennett said Parks Canada, which operates Gros Morne park, and NorPen Regional Waste Management, which is carrying out the job, told the town nothing.

A statement from the Nor Pen Regional Service Board says the job was approved by Service N.L. According to Digital Government and Service N.L. spokesperson Gina MacArthur, the provincial department issued a permit for the transfer of the waste when it was contacted by an environmental consulting firm hired by Parks Canada.

The Gros Morne site at Martin's Point was an easily accessible spot for residents in neighbouring communities in the 1970s to dump garbage. Removing the former dump is part of a federal project to clean up contaminated sites at risk to human health or the environment.

Work at Martin's Point has been ongoing for around five years. It was unclear initially where the landfill was located — until debris started falling into the nearby ocean.

Early testing discovered lead and other metals contaminating the soil, and erosion allowed these materials to leach into the beach and ocean.

Climate change poses further risks as rising sea levels and storm surges could force more waste into the water.

Hawke's Bay is the closest landfill that can take contaminated waste, to mitigate environmental risks.

But Bennett said his town is not the answer.

"Parks Canada is kicking the can down the road. So long as they don't have to deal with it anymore, they don't really care where it goes," he said.

"They're putting it in a landfill site that is not suited for this type of waste."

Hawke's Bay neighbours the Big East River, a salmon river found off the Viking Trail.