Dumping found on crown land 'disappointing'

The 2912 Sudbury Irish Army Cadets are heading out Oct. 1 to clean up an area of Pigeon Lake, northeast of Hanmer.

The only problem is that they picked up all of the trash in the area less than six months ago, only to find out that it's become littered with a large amount of garbage again.

“It’s very disappointing,” Captain Aline Groulx-Grant, commanding officer of the Corps, said in a press release.

“We spent three days in June out at this very same spot. The cadets were able to remove approximately three tons of garbage from the shoreline and surrounding areas. It was very hard work.”

The parcel of crown land is used by many people, including the cadets, nature enthusiasts, fishers, hunters — and people dumping trash or having bush parties.

According to the press release, the cadets believe people are using the area to illegally dump garbage, and the site is littered again with household junk, lawn furniture, and glass bottles.

“Glass was the biggest issue (in June),” Groulx-Grant explained in the press release.

“There were numerous fire pits, all with large amounts of broken bottle glass. Once the cadets were finished on Sunday afternoon, we invited the parents out for a year end barbeque. All the parents were amazed at the pristine beauty of the area.”

The cadet unit has previously been involved in cleaning city waterways, and for two years cleaned a section of Junction Creek. During the two years, cadets cleaned out about eight tons of garbage. They also turned the clean-up effort into a fundraiser, with money going back to the corp.

“The community needs to be made aware of this," Groulx-Grant said. "These cadets are kids who spend their time trying to improve the community we live in. When the public think of this age group, they all too often associate them with them with the problem. How is that fair?”

The 2912 Army Cadets train every Wednesday at the Sudbury Armoury, located at 333 Riverside Drive, starting at 6 p.m. It is a free organization open to both girls and boys up to 17.

For more information, phone 674-2769.