The Burnaby NOW had just published a story about the city spending $113,000 in 2019 to clean up illegal dumping when another toxic incident took place.
NOW reader Dan responded to our story to report that someone had dumped eight bags of asbestos-laced building materials in a back lane on Balmoral Street in South Burnaby.
“A hazmat crew was needed as these bags contained, among other things, drywall which could contain asbestos,” Dan said. “Come on you idiots, school kids walk down that lane.”
Dan included a picture of the offending Chevy van with some distinctive damage to the running boards.
“Maybe post it and we can catch these idiots,” Dan said.
I wrote about a similar incident in August 2018 when a Burnaby Heights resident reported stacks of yellow bags containing asbestos in an alley between Eton Street and Cambridge Street, in the 4100 block. The bags were sealed, but were blocking the entire alley so no vehicles can get by.
Asbestos is a highly toxic material that has been banned from use in many jurisdictions around the world because of its dangers, including causing cancer.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
