Dan Ashton said the board of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen has some “recommendations” for the company it hired to operate its Penticton landfill, after news stories revealed last week that a contracted employee had scavenged scrap metal from the site.
The matter was discussed Thursday behind closed doors, but Ashton, the board chair, wouldn’t elaborate on the substance of the recommendations, other than to say there are “some things that we want discussed” with contractor SSG Holdings.
Chief administrative officer Bill Newell said he expected the outcome of the meeting would be made public “in the next week or so.”
The Western News and CHBC News revealed last week that an employee of SSG Holdings admitted to scavenging scrap metal from the Campbell Mountain landfill, in violation of the company’s contract, back in 2010 and was subsequently reprimanded.
SSG Holdings owner Lance Leger said the confession was then shared with RDOS landfill supervisor Don Hamilton.
However, that admission was apparently never relayed to the board, which renewed the company’s $525,000 annual contract in May. Meanwhile, the RDOS received ongoing complaints about the incident and even referred the matter to the RCMP, which couldn’t substantiate the allegation.
The RDOS sells scrap metal from the landfill to recoup costs. Ashton said the board always appreciates receiving new information and “theft is not tolerated.”
