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By Jaryn Vecchio
It seems many Prince Albert residents have found a new place to throw out their garbage: Their toilets.
The city recently cleared out more than 100,000 kilograms of trash from the sewer system along 15th Street East.
Mayor Greg Dionne told paNOW they found baby wipes, masks, personal hygiene items, and more. He joked they probably found everything imaginable.
He added this is the first time the city has ever had to do this type of cleanup.
Due to some of the items that were found such as masks, it’s believed the COVID-19 pandemic may have played a part, but for Dionne, it still doesn’t explain why people were flushing them down the toilet.
Meanwhile, this garbage was cleared out of roughly 600 metres of pipes.
The city is planning to clear out seven kilometres of pipes, which is expected to cost $1.4 million.
This money won’t be coming out of reserve. Instead, the city is looking at possible projects they can scrap over the next two years. Dionne explained they will likely be sewer/road repairs on multiple different roads.
So far, they’ve only been able to find around $750,000 in savings in the 2023 budget.
Dionne added it’s extra frustrating as he can think of many ways that money could have been spent to improve the city. This includes repairs to potential upgrades at city parks.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an amended version of this story. A previous version stated the cleanup cost the city $1.4 million. That dollar amount is what the cost is expected to be for clearing garbage from pipes later this year. paNOW apologizes for the error.
