Residents grow frustrated as northeast Calgary lot used for illegal dumping

'You have to drive by all this garbage,' said Shirley Silbernagel, who works in the area. 'It looks like we're a dump.'

It’s a privately-owned parcel of land, earmarked for future development, but as it sits empty, some are using it as a makeshift landfill.

“Chairs, tables, all kinds of beds and mattresses,” said Shirley Silbernagel who works in the area. “You have to drive by all this garbage… it’s unsettling. It looks like we’re a dump.”

Silbernagel says the lot off 128th Avenue and Barlow Trail N.E. has been used a dumping ground for months, adding she’s followed people with trucks full of garbage to try and deter them from leaving their unwanted goods on the side of the road. She says it’s getting increasingly frustrating to see so many people treat the area with little respect.

“This is people’s workplaces; how would it feel for us to come and dump our garbage on your front lawn?”

Down the street at Country Hills Mechanic Shop, Tejpal Bhinder says he’s been watching the piles of garbage spread to the surrounding streets.

“For the people who are actually doing that, I don’t know what words I would use for them to be honest,” said Bhinder, who test drives the cars he repairs in the area and says he’s seen everything from bags of groceries to paint cans left behind.

It’s a mess that is becoming more difficult for residents and workers in the area to ignore. Some are taking to social media, posting photos of vehicles they see dumping garbage, while others are heading out to try and clean up the mess.

“I’ve seen a lot of volunteers coming and cleaning up,” said Bhinder. “City vehicles as well, but it’s not what the city should be spending its money on.”