Page 16 - IAV Digital Magazine #462

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Disgruntled Placentia Man Dumps Human Waste at Town Office
By Terry Roberts
A Placentia, N.L., resident upset by the dumping of raw sewage into a stream near his home displayed his frustration by pouring a jug of human waste over the counter at the town's municipal office Tuesday.
Jim Murphy, who was later arrest- ed, walked into the municipal building around noon and shocked the lone municipal employee in the office at the time
by spilling the jug's smelly con- tents onto the counter.
Murphy, a resi- dent of south- east Placentia, said raw sewage has been flowing into a stream near his house on and off since the 1990s.
When he came home for lunch on Tuesday, he could barely suf- fer the smell and decided to
take action.
"I'm getting dumped
on, tonnes and to
nnes of sewage, so I brought down a sample," Murphy told CBC News Wednesday.
The office was closed for several hours in order to clean up the mess, and
the incident was reported to
the RCMP.
Murphy said he has taken photo- graphs of the problem and complained for many years, with- out much of a response from the town.
He said there are times when "from one end of the property to another is just a wall of sewage."
"It's time to do something. If not, I'm going to lose my house from being flooded with sewage," he said.
RCMP Cpl. Trevor Baldwin, acting detach- ment commander in Placentia, said Murphy turned himself in to offi- cers on Tuesday evening.
He was arrest- ed and declined to make a state- ment before his release, Baldwin said.
An investigation is ongo- ing, but Murphy told CBC News he has been charged with mis- chief.
"We encour-
age anybody with any issues or problems with the town council or any agency to deal wit the mat- ter appropriate-
ly and respectful- ly, and not to take matters into their own hands," said Baldwin.
A specialized vacuum truck was operating in the area Wednesday and a crew could be seen installing new equipment in a nearby sewage lift sta- tion.
Murphy believes his stunt with the resulting media attention, caused the town to take action.
However, he's not convinced it's a long-term solu- tion.
"They're sucking out the sewer today. It will
be cured for another couple of weeks," he said.
In an interview Wednesday after- noon, Mayor Wayne Power described Murphy's actions as "totally unac- ceptable," and added a town response is "only a phone call
away."
The mayor acknowledged there was a mal- function at a sewage lift sta- tion in the area, and that repairs were initiated after the town was made aware of the problem.
As for Murphy's contention that the flow of raw sewage near his property has been an issue for many years, Power said that's not the case.
He said the town has a record of one complaint from Murphy, dat- ing back to a year ago, and the problem was quickly addressed.
Power said the issue of untreat- ed sewage is a nationwide issue and towns like Placentia will need help from other levels of government to address it
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