Firm fined for illegal dumping, burning

Kingcat Construction of Whitehorse was slapped with a $3,000 fine this week, after the company’s owner admitted to illegally dumping and burning demolition waste just north of city limits.

Kingcat Construction of Whitehorse was slapped with a $3,000 fine this week, after the company’s owner admitted to illegally dumping and burning demolition waste just north of city limits.

King is the director of the numbered corporation which owns Kingcat. He, along with his corporation, was charged with dumping without authorization, and two counts of burning waste.

It all began in the summer of 2008 when Joseph Wall got Kingcat to clear his Burma Road property of trees and brush, then dig a 103-metre trench to hold the cut brush.

Then, in early November, Kingcat began demolition of an apartment building on Centennial Drive in Porter Creek and transported the waste to the Burma Road property.

The demolition waste, which included wood, plastics, metals, rubber wire casings and cardboard, was then set alight with a propane torch at Wall’s request, according to an agreed statement of fact submitted to territorial court this week.

The fire burned for more than 24 hours, the document states, “and created a black, odorous smoke that was observed and breathed in by neighbours and residents at or near the Burma Road property.”

The statement of fact also notes that after the fire burned itself out, the waste was left in the trench as “potential pollution.”

The Department of Environment received a number of complaints about the fire and began investigating, according to conservation officer Ryan Henning.

In the meantime, Kingcat had moved to another demolition site, this time tearing down the old Pioneer Inn at corner of Second and Jarvis in downtown Whitehorse.

When King applied to the city for a permit to demolish that building in mid-November, he stated on the application that he intended to take the waste to the Burma Road property and burn it.

The City of Whitehorse responded that it is illegal to burn any garbage outside of an approved waste facility.

After receiving the permit, however, King carried out his plan last summer, this time taking one third of the waste from the Pioneer demolition to the Burma Road trench and once again setting it alight with a propane torch.

According to the statement of fact, this batch consisted of 15 to 20 dump truck loads, although the investigator in charge of Kingcat’s file estimated there were more.

This load contained a tire and rim, a bathtub, sinks, pipes and insulation and burned for more than 24 hours, the document shows.

Once the second fire was exhausted, King disposed of the charred waste at the Deep Creek Dump near Lake Laberge, where he would not have had to pay a tipping fee.

There is no estimate in the file as to how many tonnes of demolition waste King ultimately disposed of.

However, at an average of two tonnes per load, King would have had to pay $2,160 to the city dump for 20 full dump trucks.