Shawinigan: A dump in the middle of a residential neighborhood

Citizens of Shawinigan's St. Mark's neighborhood have been complaining for months that an actual landfill has been created behind a building.

Among other things, we find six sofas, a TV and a mattress, in addition to two containers and four rubbish bins full of rubbish, which explains the hundreds of waste also found on the ground.

This area on Dollar Street doesn't look like a parking lot anymore.

According to citizens, it appears that the owners of the “St. Mark's” restaurant, which is located directly next door and is now closed, have an agreement with the owner of the building in which the containers are located for their use. Since it was closed, no one cares to empty it anymore.

Waste attracts flies and insects and gives off strong, unpleasant odors. Pascal Thévault lives in the building directly behind the dump. “I wake up in the morning and it smells bad. […] “You can't even imagine how many flies there are in the house.”

When we get close to 1^any July, and neighbors fear the situation will get worse. It seems that people bring their debris in at night so it is difficult to warn them.

It is dangerous for children to play in this parking lot. Two meters away we found sharp-edged knives. Some neighbors even say they saw syringes among the debris.

We in Shawinigan have been working on the case since February. They even emptied the containers once. However, without the owner's cooperation, it will be difficult to resolve the issue. However, the owner has been sent two notices and a ticket. They have gone to the point of filing for a court order so they can pick up what is on the ground.

JD Goulet, a neighbor, tries to take some waste from each garbage collection and put it in its bins, but it only takes a few days for the situation to deteriorate again.