Update – We Need A Controlled Substances Property Bylaw In Duncan

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In a response to an article in the Cowichan Valley Citizen on 12 October 2018, Duncan Mayoral candidate Martin Barker has adopted my idea that Duncan needs to enact a Controlled Substances Property Bylaw.  I put a post about the need for a Controlled Substances Property Bylaw on this website on 18 September but until Martin Barker expressed his support for it on 12 October I have not heard any other candidates talking about this publicly.

I note that Duncan Mayoral candidate Sharon Jackson has also expressed her support for my advocacy of a Controlled Substances Property Bylaw in conversations with me but, to date, she has not used this idea in her own campaign.

Just so everyone understands this issue now that it has also been raised by a Mayoral candidate, here is my original post about the need for a Controlled Substances Property Bylaw, which I posted on this website on 18 September 2018.

Since November 2017 there have been two houses in Duncan on which the RCMP has executed search warrants for drug related offences and which have been found to have significant drug related refuse inside the houses and outside on the surrounding property. These houses are: 454 Garden Street, on which a search warrant was executed on November 2017, and a house in the 1000 block of Trunk Road, on which a search warrant was executed on 5 September 2018.

454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking south east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking south east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

At the request of the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP I am not identifying the address of the house raided on 5 September 2018 in the 1000 block of Trunk Road at this time.

Fetanyl, discarded needles and other drug related items were found in both these houses.

This creates a definite public health issue which needs to be addressed and which Duncan’s current Bylaws do not adequately address or remedy

The North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP Detachment building, 6060 Canada Avenue, North Cowichan (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)
The North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP Detachment building, 6060 Canada Avenue, North Cowichan (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)

In the case of 454 Garden Street, the RCMP executed a search warrant on the property on 26 November 2017 which resulted in the arrest of 15 people. The condition of the property was so bad that City of Duncan Bylaw Enforcement officer Garry Kerr said “Nobody from the City of Duncan would enter that residence due to fear of contamination.”

Current City of Duncan Bylaws do not allow the City of Duncan, or a contractor employed by the City of Duncan, to simply go onto the property to carry out a clean up. Negotiations between the City of Duncan and the owner of 454 Garden Street regarding a cleanup of the property went on for nearly 4 months without any cleanup being done.

Finally, on 29 March 2018, four months after the RCMP search warrant was executed on 454 Garden Street in November 2017, the City of Duncan retained a hazardous materials remediation contractor, Lakeside Property Maintenance, to clean up the exterior of 454 Garden Street.

I spoke with the owner of Lakeside Property Maintenance who told me that the company had employed a crew of five people wearing full hazardous material protective equipment to carry out the work on the exterior and grounds of 454 Garden Street. Lakeside Property Maintenance removed 5 five gallon pails full of used syringes from 454 Garden Street along with 30-40 cubic yards of other drug related refuse.

The $12,000 cost of the clean up has been charged to the property owner through the City of Duncan property taxes on the property. As of 18 September 2018 the City of Duncan has not been reimbursed for the clean up costs.

But the important issue here is about public health and safety. A hazardous waste site at 454 Garden Street near downtown Duncan, containing enough discarded used syringes to fill 5 five gallon pails, along with 30-40 cubic yards of other drug related refuse, was left unremediated for four months before the City of Duncan was able to retain a private contractor to clean it up. 

Current City of Duncan Bylaws did not give the City of Duncan the authority to immediately clean up the site if the owner was unable, reluctant or unwilling to do so.

Clearly the City of Duncan needs a new Bylaw, or Bylaws, to allow the City to immediately clean up properties which have become drug related hazardous waste site. Allowing a hazardous waste site, like 454 Garden Street, to go unremediated for four months is simply unacceptable.

The RCMP have issued a press release suggesting that the City of Duncan needs a new Bylaw modeled on the Controlled Substance Property Bylaws currently in force in other BC municipalities and districts. As one example, the Municipality of North Cowichan has a Controlled Substance Property Bylaw.

Here are some examples of Controlled Substance Property Bylaws currently in force in other BC municipalities and districts:

As you can see, many of these Bylaws were enacted in the period 2005-2007, when the problems were typically meth labs and marijuana grow ops. Many of these these Bylaws have been updated, or are in the process of being updated, to include fetanyl and opioids.

Paige McWilliam has told me that the City of Duncan has instructed its lawyers to research Controlled Substance Property Bylaws. But the City of Duncan does not currently have a Controlled Substances Property Bylaw.

If elected to City of Duncan Council, I will make it a priority of enact an effective City of Duncan Controlled Substance Property Bylaw as quickly as possible.

 

Note: Some sources have suggested that WorkSafeBC regulations cover these situations. They don’t!

I contacted WorkSafeBC about its procedure for designating a property as a Hazardous waste site and received the following response from Terence Little, the Director, of Corporate Communications.

Here is the WorkSafeBC response in its entirety:

“Hello Mr. Anderson, 

Thank you for your request for information regarding sites that potentially contain hazardous materials. I have been in contact with our Prevention Division and received the following response to your question:

WorkSafeBC does not designate sites as HAZMAT sites. WorkSafeBC’s mandate is to enforce the Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation (OHSR). Within those provisions are requirements for employers to ensure the health and safety of their workers by assessing the risks at worksites and employing appropriate measures to ensure workers are protected from those risks. 

The OHSR requires employers to have a documented Exposure Control Plan, which includes procedures for assessing hazards, including the presence of hazardous substances, at a worksite. This may include requirements for testing materials or environments for hazardous substances. When worksites are contaminated with a hazardous material of substance, the employer is required to ensure that workers have the appropriate training, equipment, and procedures to protect them from that risk.

In terms of limiting access to a work location, this may be done by WorkSafeBC, police agencies, or other regulators, based on their authority and mandate. In situations where work processes present a risk of serious injury, illness, or death to workers, The Workers Compensation Act gives WorkSafeBC the authority to stop work and prohibit worker access to that work location. WorkSafeBC may do this if testing has revealed the presence of hazardous substance but the employer has not taken the necessary steps to protect workers from that hazard. WorkSafeBC would cordon off the location and place a placard at the location with the details and time limit of the order. Limiting worker access to a worksite in this manner is not equivalent to declaring the location a HAZMAT site. 

I hope that answers your questions. Please let me know if I can assist further. 

Regards, Terence. 

Terence Little
Director, Corporate Communications | 604.279.7666

6951 Westminster Hwy, Richmond, BC
worksafebc.com”

 

Update – City of Duncan Costs And Enforcement Efforts At 454 Garden Street – Drug Related Issues

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A few weeks ago I put up a post on this website about the drug related issues at 454 Garden Street and the costs to the City of Duncan for Bylaw Enforcement and clean up of the site. I also argued that this case highlights the need for a Controlled Substances Property Bylaw to be enacted by the City of Duncan.

Since my original post (which I have also included below) the City of Duncan has responded to a question I asked of staff and has released information on the Bylaw Enforcement efforts made and the costs incurred by the City of Duncan in cleaning up the house and grounds of 454 Garden Street after it had been turned into a hazardous waste site by drug related activity.

First, here is the information released by the City of Duncan in response to my question:

City of Duncan statistics on costs and enforcement efforts on the property at 454 Garden Street (source: City of Duncan)
City of Duncan statistics on costs and enforcement efforts on the property at 454 Garden Street (source: City of Duncan)
City of Duncan statistics on costs and enforcement efforts on the property at 454 Garden Street (source: City of Duncan)
City of Duncan statistics on costs and enforcement efforts on the property at 454 Garden Street (source: City of Duncan)

For background on this situation, here is my original post on 454 Garden Street:

454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking north east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking north east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

The City of Duncan is having some serious issues with a property at 454 Garden Street. This house and property has been declared a “hazardous waste site” due to rampant drug use having taken place on the property.

In March and April 2018 the City of Duncan spent over $12,000 to have a local private hazardous waste contractor, Lakeside Property Maintenance, based in Lake Cowichan, remove used syringes and other drug related material from the house and yard at 454 Garden Street.

I spoke with the owner of Lakeside Property Maintenance, who told me that the work at 454 Garden Street was carried out over four days, 29 March 2018 and 2-4 April 2018, and involved a crew of five people wearing full hazardous material protective equipment. Lakeside Property Maintenance removed 5 five gallon pails full of used syringes from the property along with 30-40 cubic yards of other drug related refuse.

The $12,000 cost of the clean up has been charged to the property owner through the City of Duncan property taxes on the property. As of 5 September 2018 the City of Duncan has not been reimbursed for the clean up costs.

Here is a Google Street View image showing how this house at 454 Garden Street appeared in 2015:

Here are photos of 454 Garden Street taken on 31 July 2018:

454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking south east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking south east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking north east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking north east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

I have asked the City of Duncan for information on the situation regarding 454 Garden Street but Paige McWilliam has told me I will need to submit a Freedom of Information request to get that information. I have submitted a Freedom of Information request for this information but the City of Duncan has until October 2018 to respond to the request. I will post the information released by the City of Duncan when I receive it.

In the meantime, here is some background to the current situation:

454 Garden Street was purchased by a Victoria based investor for $182,000 on 30 June 2015. It was then rented to tenants.

I do not know how many tenants rented 454 Garden Street after July 2015 but by the fall of 2017 the house had acquired a reputation in the surrounding neighbourhood as a “flop house” and what might commonly be referred to as a “crack house” where constant and rampant drug related activity was taking place. The City of Duncan and the local RCMP received numerous complaints from neighbours about the illegal activities taking place at 454 Garden Street.

On 26 November 2017 the Duncan/North Cowichan RCMP executed a search warrant at 454 Garden Street which resulted in the arrest of 15 people. I contacted the Duncan?North Cowichan RCMP to ask for details of the case but the RCMP advised me they cannot comment or release any information about the case due to privacy legislation.

But a Times-Colonist article about the search warrant execution, published 29 November 2017, quoted RCMP officers as saying the property “was littered with hundreds of needles and contaminated with fentanyl” and quoting City of Duncan Bylaw Enforcement Officer Garry Kerr as saying “the conditions of the house were the worst he’s seen since his time with the municipality.

“Nobody from the City of Duncan would enter that residence due to fear of contamination,” he said.”

The presence of fentanyl, used syringes and other drug refuse in the house and on the property meant it was a hazardous waste site and unfit for habitation. That required that WorksafeBC become involved in regulating the clean up of the site.

Between November 2017 and April 2018, the City of Duncan held many discussions with the owner of 454 Garden Street about cleaning up the site. These discussions were unsuccessful and did not lead to a clean up of the site.

In March 2018 the City of Duncan decided to clean up the site and retained Lakeside Property Maintenance, based in Lake Cowichan, to remove used syringes and other drug related material from the house and yard at 454 Garden Street. As noted above Lakeside Property Maintenance spent four days at the site with a crew of five removing five 5 gallon pails full of used syringes from the property along with 30-40 cubic yards of other drug related refuse.

This begs an obvious question: why was this site allowed to sit as an unremediated hazardous waste site between the RCMP raid on 26 November 2017 and 29 March 2018, when Lakeside Property Maintenance began cleaning up the property under contract to the City of Duncan?

The property was obviously a public health hazard during this time and I will be looking into why it was not cleaned up before that time. I will post what I found out about this. But I think the City of Duncan definitely needs a Controlled Substances Property Bylaw, modeled on other such Bylaws enacted by many other municipalities and districts in B.C.

Some Additional Background Information

Here is some additional information on 454 Garden Street [note: I will be adding more to this section in the next few weeks]:

The City of Duncan Bylaw Enforcement dealt with the drug issues on this property under Bylaw 3156, the Good Neighbour Bylaw, enacted in the summer of 2017.

Here are some City of Duncan documents leading up to enacting of the City of Duncan Bylaw 3156, Good Neighbour Bylaw:

Here are the City of Duncan statistics on Bylaw Enforcement efforts and Clean Up costs associated with 545 Garden Street. This information was released in response to my questions on 454 Garden Street:

City of Duncan statistics on costs and enforcement efforts on the property at 454 Garden Street (source: City of Duncan)
City of Duncan statistics on costs and enforcement efforts on the property at 454 Garden Street (source: City of Duncan)
City of Duncan statistics on costs and enforcement efforts on the property at 454 Garden Street (source: City of Duncan)
City of Duncan statistics on costs and enforcement efforts on the property at 454 Garden Street (source: City of Duncan)

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VIHA Is Handing Out Free Needles But Doesn’t Seem To Have Adequate Plans To Recover Those Needles

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The Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) has a program to distribute sterile needles free of charge to intravenous drug users as a way of harm reduction.

In Duncan, the Needle Exchange on Trunk Road is part of this program, funded by VIHA through a contract with the Canadian Mental Health Association.

A secure Sharps Disposal box in Duncan's Centennial Park (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
A secure Sharps Disposal box in Duncan’s Centennial Park (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

But while this program undoubtedly has beneficial effects in preventing or reducing diseases and infections which can be transmitted among intravenous drug users through sharing or re-using needles, the fact remains that many of the needles (commonly known as “sharps”) distributed locally to intravenous drug users through this program are not returned to VIHA or to the Needle Exchange for safe disposal.

Instead they are far too often being discarded on public streets and in public spaces where they present a public health hazard.

I think the City of Duncan needs to contact VIHA to discuss solutions to this problem or, at the very least, ways to reduce the number of used needles and syringes discarded on Duncan streets and public spaces. Any contact with VIHA would necessarily need to be done in cooperation with the CVRD and the Municipality of North Cowichan.

There are already efforts to collect these used needles and syringes. The Needle Exchange on Trunk Road is one part of these efforts.

Another example involves secure Sharps Disposal boxes, like the one on the photo at left taken in Duncan’s Centennial Park, into which used needles can be safely deposited.

The Needle Exchange in Duncan hands out these "Contaminated Sharps) containers free of charge. The containers are made of sturdy plastic. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
The Needle Exchange in Duncan hands out these “Contaminated Sharps” containers free of charge. The containers are made of sturdy plastic and hold 10 used sharps. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

The Needle Exchange also hands out portable sharps disposal containers, made of heavy duty plastic, which hold 10 used needles/syringes. A photo of a “Contaminated Sharps” container appears on the left.

Another effort to recover used needles and syringes discarded on streets and publicly accessible spaces is carried out by the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team, which is funded by VIHA through a grant to the Canadian Mental Health Association – Cowichan Valley Branch.

The Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team recovered over 4400 sharps from local streets and public spaces in the month of August 2018 alone. While I commend the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team for removing these 4400 used sharps from public spaces, the very fact that it did so illustrates the nature and extent of the problem.

I went out with the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team one morning in August. It was an interesting experience.

One of the first stops was the park at the rear of the Cowichan Aquatic Center at 2653 James Street. Alongside an outdoor skate park immediately north of, and adjacent to, the Cowichan Aquatic Center parking lot we came across a site with discarded needles and other drug related refuse. The photo below shows the location of the site in relation to the Cowichan Aquatic Center and its parking lot.

During a walk with the Warmland Sharps Disposal Team, we came across this drug use refuse left outdoors in a local park by the Cowichan Aquatic Centre (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)
During a walk with the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team, we came across this drug use refuse left outdoors in a local park next to the Cowichan Aquatic Centre (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)

We then went a few blocks west to a site on Duncan Street between James Street and Beverley Street. The three photos below show this site., which is near, and across Duncan Street from,  the North Cowichan Fire Department South End Fire Hall at 5851 Duncan Street.

A Warmland Sharps Disposal Team member at a drug activity site off Duncan Street (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)
A Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team member at a drug activity site off Duncan Street between James Street and Beverley Street (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)

Note that the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team member shown in the photo is going into this site equipped with limited safety equipment; basically a pair of steel toed boots with a metal shank in the sole, a pair of gloves and a device with a long handle for picking up discarded needles and other items.  He was working on his own and he told me that sites like this one are considered Hazardous Waste sites.

Contrast this situation with the Hazardous Waste site cleanup of 454 Garden Street [see our post about 454 Garden Street here] between 29 March-4 April 2018 which was done by a private contractor following WorkSafeBC regulations and using a five person crew dressed in full HazMat gear at a cost to the City of Duncan of $12,000.

I was quite surprised to see a Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team member, working on his own, going into Hazardous Waste sites with very limited safety equipment. During my time working for a Crown corporation I served as an elected union rep and was involved in WorkSafeBC issues and a variety of workplace safety incidents and concerns. I know from personal involvement in unions and WorkSafeBC issues that a union would not tolerate workers going into Hazardous Waste sites, alone and without adequate protective equipment. Nor would WorkSafeBC. But that is what is happening here with workers under contract to VIHA.

A Warmland Sharps Disposal Team member at a drug activity site off Duncan Street (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)
A Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team member at a drug activity site off Duncan Street between James Street and Beverley Street (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)

The photo below shows some of the drug related refuse at this site. The blue plastic vials contained distilled water used to mix a heroin solution. The orange wrappers contained powdered Vitamin C which is mixed with the heroin solution as an anti-coagulant. These items are handed out to intravenous drug users by the Needle Exchange in Duncan.

Some of the refuse encountered by the Warmland Sharps Disposal Team member at a drug activity site off Duncan Street (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)
Some of the refuse encountered by the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team member at a drug activity site off Duncan Street between James Street and Beverley Street (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)

After spending some time patrolling various sites in Duncan, we went onto Cowichan Tribes land and walked along the E&N Railway track between Trunk Road and Allenby Road. There are several encampments along this section of the E&N Railway track like the ones shown in the photos below.

The Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team member I was accompanying told me that the residents of these encampments have told Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team members, in no uncertain terms, including threats of physical violence, that Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team members are not welcome in the encampments. The Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team picks up discarded sharps on the E&N Railway tracks but does not enter the encampments.

A site on Cowichan Tribes land patrolled regularly by the Warmland Sharps Disposal Team (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
A site on Cowichan Tribes land patrolled regularly by the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
A site on Cowichan Tribes land patrolled regularly by the Warmland Sharps Disposal Team (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
A site on Cowichan Tribes land patrolled regularly by the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
A site on Cowichan Tribes land patrolled regularly by the Warmland Sharps Disposal Team (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
A site on Cowichan Tribes land patrolled regularly by the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

The photo below shows the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team member I was accompanying investigating another site on Cowichan Tribes land near the E&N railway track.

A site on Cowichan Tribes land patrolled regularly by the Warmland Sharps Disposal Team (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
A Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team member checks a site on Cowichan Tribes land patrolled regularly by the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

It seems to me that there are some definite problems with this. The Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) has a program to distribute sterile needles free of charge to intravenous drug users as a way of harm reduction.  This makes sense.

But there doesn’t not seem to be an adequate plan to get these needles back again. Instead these needles are ending up being discarded on public streets and in public spaces.

The Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team picked up 4400 discarded sharps from local streets and public spaces in August 2018 alone. But while that is a commendable effort the fact that there were at least 4400 discarded sharps on public streets and public spaces illustrates the fact that there is a serious problem with discarded needles in public spaces.

VIHA provides financial support for the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team. The Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team members are going out to collect these discarded needles with little in the way of protective equipment. They are going into places which would typically be considered HazMat sites without any HazMat protective gear.

I asked the member of the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team whom I accompanied what he thought some solutions might be. His first response was that the most effective solution might be to start a program similar to a bottle depot which pays the intravenous drug users a small fee, say 5 cents, for each sharp they turn in to the Needle Exchange.

That makes some sense to me. People collect bottles and cans to return to the Bottle Depot for 5 cents per bottle or can so there could be a similar kind of program for sharps. But then what would happen if children started going out to look for sharps in order to collect cash for their return? That would create some unwanted public health and safety concerns.

But the bottom line is that the current VIHA harm reduction program is handing out free syringes to intravenous drug users and many of those needles are not being returned to VIHA for disposal. Instead they are winding up discarded on city streets where they pose the potential for causing harm to others. In August 2018 the Warmland Sharps Pick Up Team picked up over 4400 discarded sharps from local streets.

I think Duncan and other municipalities really need to have some serious discussions with VIHA about the problem of discarded sharps on local streets and how to reduce the problem.

Mark Anderson – Candidate for Duncan Council – 22 September 2018

Update – 5 October 2018:

Since writing the above post, I contacted the City of Duncan about this issue and received the following answers. My questions and the City of Duncan staff answers appear below:

Q. Has the City of Duncan had contact with Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) regarding their practice
of providing free syringes to intravenous drug users and VIHA’s programs to collect those syringes for
disposal after use? If so, when? Has VIHA made presentations, reports or correspondence to the City of
Duncan regarding the issue of discarded used syringes? If so, when? 

A. Yes, representatives from VIHA, Dr. Hasselback, has presented to the Committee of the Whole on the
overdose crisis, which included mention of the harm reduction practice of providing free needles, on April 4,
2016 (link to minutes; link to presentation ) On May 1, 2016, Dr. Hasselback also attended a closed
Committee of the Whole meeting. On June 5, 2017, Mayor Kent provided a verbal update on the Overdose
Prevention Site and Sharps (link to minutes).

Q. Has the City of Duncan made representations, recommendations or suggests to VIHA on the issue of
discarded syringes, collection of discarded/used syringes or related matters? Are any such communications
between VIHA and the City of Duncan available to the public? 

A. Yes, on June 6 correspondence was sent to VIHA, the following is an excerpt regarding discarded syringes:

“On behalf of Council, staff, and our community, I am writing this letter to apprise you of a situation, that
over the past year, has become a huge problem for the City of Duncan and surrounding area. I am
speaking of the proliferation of needles being discarded throughout our area. It is felt that part of the
cause is the manner in which needles are being distributed to drug users by the Vancouver Island health
Authority. These needles are being handed out in large numbers by the Margaret Moss Health Unit,
Duncan-Drug & Alcohol Counselling Services Clinic, Warmland Shelter, the Central Vancouver Island Harm
Reduction Services (CVIHRS – NARSF), the Duncan – MHSU Office, the Duncan ACT office, and Ts’ewulhtun
Health Centre, with no programs to encourage the self return of needles by users.

We understand from speaking with the various agencies that collectively approximately 10,000 needles
are being distributed each month in our area alone. Many of those used needles are being discarded in
the City’s parks, tossed into public washroom feminine hygiene products receptacles, eaves troughs river
banks, and on property owned by businesses and residents. Council is extremely concerned for the safety
of its employees, citizens, and particularly the children. ”

The City received a response from VIHA on June 27, which included the following:

“Reducing the number of inappropriately discarded sharps, and collecting and safely disposing of sharps is
a shared responsibility between health care services, community agencies, local government and
substance users. Island Health has been working, and continues to work with, all of these stakeholders to
strengthen sharps disposal processes. This includes a new contract with the Cowichan Valley Branch of
the Canadian Mental Health Association for sharps collection seven days per week for an initial period of
six months. This service will be in place before the end of June and is in addition to other sharps collection
activities in the Cowichan Valley, including designated drop-off locations, the installation of disposal units in targeted areas, and sweeps around the Warmlands facility.

These collection activities complement ongoing programs and awareness activities that encourage users
to collect and return sharps. This includes the provision of purpose-designed sharps disposal containers
that are supplied with new sharps when they are distributed, and awareness information for users on
how to responsibly handle and dispose of used sharps. As a result of these actions, Island Health is
confident the vast majority of sharps that are handed out are collected and returned for safe disposal.”

Note: I do not share the confidence VIHA has expressed in the last sentence of this response. I think Cowichan Valley municipalities will have take a collaborative approach to VIHA about this situation.

Mark Anderson – Candidate for Duncan Council – 5 October 2018

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We Need A Controlled Substances Property Bylaw For Duncan

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Since November 2017 there have been two houses in Duncan on which the RCMP has executed search warrants for drug related offences and which have been found to have significant drug related refuse inside the houses and outside on the surrounding property. These houses are: 454 Garden Street, on which a search warrant was executed on November 2017, and a house in the 1000 block of Trunk Road, on which a search warrant was executed on 5 September 2018.

454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking south east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking south east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

At the request of the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP I am not identifying the address of the house raided on 5 September 2018 in the 1000 block of Trunk Road at this time.

Fetanyl, discarded needles and other drug related items were found in both these houses.

This creates a definite public health issue which needs to be addressed and which Duncan’s current Bylaws do not adequately address or remedy

The North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP Detachment building, 6060 Canada Avenue, North Cowichan (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)
The North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP Detachment building, 6060 Canada Avenue, North Cowichan (photo by Duncan Taxpayers)

In the case of 454 Garden Street, the RCMP executed a search warrant on the property on 26 November 2017 which resulted in the arrest of 15 people. The condition of the property was so bad that City of Duncan Bylaw Enforcement officer Garry Kerr said “Nobody from the City of Duncan would enter that residence due to fear of contamination.”

Current City of Duncan Bylaws do not allow the City of Duncan, or a contractor employed by the City of Duncan, to simply go onto the property to carry out a clean up. Negotiations between the City of Duncan and the owner of 454 Garden Street regarding a cleanup of the property went on for nearly 4 months without any cleanup being done.

Finally, on 29 March 2018, four months after the RCMP search warrant was executed on 454 Garden Street in November 2017, the City of Duncan retained a hazardous materials remediation contractor, Lakeside Property Maintenance, to clean up the exterior of 454 Garden Street.

I spoke with the owner of Lakeside Property Maintenance who told me that the company had employed a crew of five people wearing full hazardous material protective equipment to carry out the work on the exterior and grounds of 454 Garden Street. Lakeside Property Maintenance removed 5 five gallon pails full of used syringes from 454 Garden Street along with 30-40 cubic yards of other drug related refuse.

The $12,000 cost of the clean up has been charged to the property owner through the City of Duncan property taxes on the property. As of 18 September 2018 the City of Duncan has not been reimbursed for the clean up costs.

But the important issue here is about public health and safety. A hazardous waste site at 454 Garden Street near downtown Duncan, containing enough discarded used syringes to fill 5 five gallon pails, along with 30-40 cubic yards of other drug related refuse, was left unremediated for four months before the City of Duncan was able to retain a private contractor to clean it up. 

Current City of Duncan Bylaws did not give the City of Duncan the authority to immediately clean up the site if the owner was unable, reluctant or unwilling to do so.

Clearly the City of Duncan needs a new Bylaw, or Bylaws, to allow the City to immediately clean up properties which have become drug related hazardous waste site. Allowing a hazardous waste site, like 454 Garden Street, to go unremediated for four months is simply unacceptable.

The RCMP have issued a press release suggesting that the City of Duncan needs a new Bylaw modeled on the Controlled Substance Property Bylaws currently in force in other BC municipalities and districts. As one example, the Municipality of North Cowichan has a Controlled Substance Property Bylaw.

Here are some examples of Controlled Substance Property Bylaws currently in force in other BC municipalities and districts:

As you can see, many of these Bylaws were enacted in the period 2005-2007, when the problems were typically meth labs and marijuana grow ops. Many of these these Bylaws have been updated, or are in the process of being updated, to include fetanyl and opioids.

Paige McWilliam has told me that the City of Duncan has instructed its lawyers to research Controlled Substance Property Bylaws. But the City of Duncan does not currently have a Controlled Substances Property Bylaw.

If elected to City of Duncan Council, I will make it a priority of enact an effective City of Duncan Controlled Substance Property Bylaw as quickly as possible.

 

Note: Some sources have suggested that WorkSafeBC regulations cover these situations. They don’t!

I contacted WorkSafeBC about its procedure for designating a property as a Hazardous waste site and received the following response from Terence Little, the Director, of Corporate Communications.

Here is the WorkSafeBC response in its entirety:

“Hello Mr. Anderson, 

Thank you for your request for information regarding sites that potentially contain hazardous materials. I have been in contact with our Prevention Division and received the following response to your question:

WorkSafeBC does not designate sites as HAZMAT sites. WorkSafeBC’s mandate is to enforce the Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation (OHSR). Within those provisions are requirements for employers to ensure the health and safety of their workers by assessing the risks at worksites and employing appropriate measures to ensure workers are protected from those risks. 

The OHSR requires employers to have a documented Exposure Control Plan, which includes procedures for assessing hazards, including the presence of hazardous substances, at a worksite. This may include requirements for testing materials or environments for hazardous substances. When worksites are contaminated with a hazardous material of substance, the employer is required to ensure that workers have the appropriate training, equipment, and procedures to protect them from that risk.

In terms of limiting access to a work location, this may be done by WorkSafeBC, police agencies, or other regulators, based on their authority and mandate. In situations where work processes present a risk of serious injury, illness, or death to workers, The Workers Compensation Act gives WorkSafeBC the authority to stop work and prohibit worker access to that work location. WorkSafeBC may do this if testing has revealed the presence of hazardous substance but the employer has not taken the necessary steps to protect workers from that hazard. WorkSafeBC would cordon off the location and place a placard at the location with the details and time limit of the order. Limiting worker access to a worksite in this manner is not equivalent to declaring the location a HAZMAT site. 

I hope that answers your questions. Please let me know if I can assist further. 

Regards, Terence. 

Terence Little
Director, Corporate Communications | 604.279.7666

6951 Westminster Hwy, Richmond, BC
worksafebc.com”

 

454 Garden Street – Drug Related Issues

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Update: 18 September 2018 – Also see the newer post about the need for a City of Duncan Controlled Substances Property Bylaw.

Update: 11 October 2018  – on City of Duncan Enforcement Efforts and Costs In Connection With 454 Garden Street.

454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking north east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking north east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

The City of Duncan is having some serious issues with a property at 454 Garden Street. This house and property has been declared a “hazardous waste site” due to rampant drug use having taken place on the property.

In March and April 2018 the City of Duncan spent over $12,000 to have a local private hazardous waste contractor, Lakeside Property Maintenance, based in Lake Cowichan, remove used syringes and other drug related material from the house and yard at 454 Garden Street.

I spoke with the owner of Lakeside Property Maintenance, who told me that the work at 454 Garden Street was carried out over four days, 29 March 2018 and 2-4 April 2018, and involved a crew of five people wearing full hazardous material protective equipment. Lakeside Property Maintenance removed 5 five gallon pails full of used syringes from the property along with 30-40 cubic yards of other drug related refuse.

The $12,000 cost of the clean up has been charged to the property owner through the City of Duncan property taxes on the property. As of 5 September 2018 the City of Duncan has not been reimbursed for the clean up costs.

Here is a Google Street View image showing how this house at 454 Garden Street appeared in 2015:

Here are photos of 454 Garden Street taken on 31 July 2018:

454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking south east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking south east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking north east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
454 Garden Street, Duncan on 31 July 2018, looking north east (photo: DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

I have asked the City of Duncan for information on the situation regarding 454 Garden Street but Paige McWilliam has told me I will need to submit a Freedom of Information request to get that information. I have submitted a Freedom of Information request for this information but the City of Duncan has until October 2018 to respond to the request. I will post the information released by the City of Duncan when I receive it.

In the meantime, here is some background to the current situation:

454 Garden Street was purchased by a Victoria based investor for $182,000 on 30 June 2015. It was then rented to tenants.

I do not know how many tenants rented 454 Garden Street after July 2015 but by the fall of 2017 the house had acquired a reputation in the surrounding neighbourhood as a “flop house” and what might commonly be referred to as a “crack house” where constant and rampant drug related activity was taking place. The City of Duncan and the local RCMP received numerous complaints from neighbours about the illegal activities taking place at 454 Garden Street.

On 26 November 2017 the Duncan/North Cowichan RCMP executed a search warrant at 454 Garden Street which resulted in the arrest of 15 people. I contacted the Duncan?North Cowichan RCMP to ask for details of the case but the RCMP advised me they cannot comment or release any information about the case due to privacy legislation.

But a Times-Colonist article about the search warrant execution, published 29 November 2017, quoted RCMP officers as saying the property “was littered with hundreds of needles and contaminated with fentanyl” and quoting City of Duncan Bylaw Enforcement Officer Garry Kerr as saying “the conditions of the house were the worst he’s seen since his time with the municipality.

“Nobody from the City of Duncan would enter that residence due to fear of contamination,” he said.”

The presence of fentanyl, used syringes and other drug refuse in the house and on the property meant it was a hazardous waste site and unfit for habitation. That required that WorksafeBC become involved in regulating the clean up of the site.

Between November 2017 and April 2018, the City of Duncan held many discussions with the owner of 454 Garden Street about cleaning up the site. These discussions were unsuccessful and did not lead to a clean up of the site.

In March 2018 the City of Duncan decided to clean up the site and retained Lakeside Property Maintenance, based in Lake Cowichan, to remove used syringes and other drug related material from the house and yard at 454 Garden Street. As noted above Lakeside Property Maintenance spent four days at the site with a crew of five removing five 5 gallon pails full of used syringes from the property along with 30-40 cubic yards of other drug related refuse.

This begs an obvious question: why was this site allowed to sit as an unremediated hazardous waste site between the RCMP raid on 26 November 2017 and 29 March 2018, when Lakeside Property Maintenance began cleaning up the property under contract to the City of Duncan?

The property was obviously a public health hazard during this time and I will be looking into why it was not cleaned up before that time. I will post what I found out about this. But I think the City of Duncan definitely needs a Controlled Substances Property Bylaw, modeled on other such Bylaws enacted by many other municipalities and districts in B.C.

Some Additional Background Information

Here is some additional information on 454 Garden Street [note: I will be adding more to this section in the next few weeks]:

The City of Duncan Bylaw Enforcement dealt with the drug issues on this property under Bylaw 3156, the Good Neighbour Bylaw, enacted in the summer of 2017.

Here are some City of Duncan documents leading up to enacting of the City of Duncan Bylaw 3156, Good Neighbour Bylaw:

Here are the City of Duncan statistics on Bylaw Enforcement efforts and Clean Up costs associated with 545 Garden Street. This information was released in response to my questions on 454 Garden Street:

City of Duncan statistics on costs and enforcement efforts on the property at 454 Garden Street (source: City of Duncan)
City of Duncan statistics on costs and enforcement efforts on the property at 454 Garden Street (source: City of Duncan)
City of Duncan statistics on costs and enforcement efforts on the property at 454 Garden Street (source: City of Duncan)
City of Duncan statistics on costs and enforcement efforts on the property at 454 Garden Street (source: City of Duncan)

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Needle Exchange – 221 Trunk Road

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The Needle Exchange is currently located at 221 Trunk Road, at the corner of Trunk Road and Ypres Street, near downtown Duncan.

Here is a map showing the location of 221 Trunk Road:

Here is a Google Street View image of the facility, taken in 2009:


I visited the Needle Exchange in August 2018 to ask some basic questions about the facility. Here is some of what I was told:

  • The Needle Exchange is currently operated by the Canadian Mental Health Association under contract to the Vancouver Island Health Authority, (VIHA);
  • VIHA currently issues 6 month contracts for organizations to run the Needle Exchange.  The current contract with the Canadian Mental Health Association expires in October 2018;
  • There are an estimated 200 intravenous drug users in Duncan and surrounding Cowichan Valley close to Duncan;
  • In the week prior to my visit, the Needle Exchange had an average of 69-70 separate visits per day. Note that the Needle Exchange only counts individual visits, not particular individuals. If one individual visited the Needle Exchange twice in one day it would be counted as two separate visits;
  • The Needle Exchange also functions as a safe injection site but not at the level of a “supervised consumption site” like Insite in Vancouver;

The Needle Exchange does not just exchange needles; it also hands out kits, free of charge, to drug users. Each kits contains supplies for five injections. An example of one of these kits is shown below:

An example of the drug use kits handed out, free of charge, by the Needle Exchange in Duncan. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
An example of the drug use kits handed out, free of charge, by the Needle Exchange in Duncan. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

Here are explanations of the items contained in each kit:

Disposable, Single Use 1 ml Syringes – each kit contains 5 x Disposable, Single Use 1 ml Syringes. typically used for injecting insulin. These syringes are also used for injecting heroin.

The kits handed out by the Duncan Needle Exchange include 5 x 1 ml single use, disposable insulin injection needles. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
The kits handed out by the Duncan Needle Exchange include 5 x 1 ml single use, disposable insulin injection needles. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

Vitamin C powder – 5 x 100 mg packets. When added to the heroin solution prior to injection, the Vitamin C apparently prevents the heroin solution from coagulating.

The kits handed out by the Duncan Needle Exchange include Vitamin C powder. When added to the heroin solution prior to injection, Vitamin C apparently prevents the herion solution from coagulating. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
The kits handed out by the Duncan Needle Exchange include Vitamin C powder. When added to the heroin solution prior to injection, Vitamin C apparently prevents the heroin solution from coagulating. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

Each kit contains one elastic band, used to wrap around the arm to bring up a vein prior to injecting heroin

An elastic band included in the kits handed out to drug users by the Needle Exchange in Duncan. Drug users wrap these around their arms to bring up veins in which to inject heroin. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
An elastic band included in the kits handed out to drug users by the Needle Exchange in Duncan. Drug users wrap these around their arms to bring up veins in which to inject heroin. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

Alcohol swabs – each kit contains 10 alcohol swabs, used to clean the skin at the injection site prior to injecting

Alcohol swabs are included in the kits handed out to drug users by the Needle Exchange in Duncan. Drug users use these to clean the skin at the area where they are planning to inject heroin. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
Alcohol swabs are included in the kits handed out to drug users by the Needle Exchange in Duncan. Drug users use these to clean the skin at the area where they are planning to inject heroin. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

Distilled Water – each kit contains five sealed vials of distilled water. Heroin is added to the distilled water and the solution is heated prior to injection

Vials of distilled water are included in the kits handed out to drug users by the Needle Exchange in Duncan. Drug users add heroin to the distilled water and heat up the solution prior to injecting. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
Vials of distilled water are included in the kits handed out to drug users by the Needle Exchange in Duncan. Drug users add heroin to the distilled water and heat up the solution prior to injecting. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

Plastic containers for heating heroin solution – each kit contains 5 disposable plastic containers (at the bottom of the photo below) used to hold the heroin solution while it is being heated prior to injection.

Alcohol swabs (left), vials of distilled water (center) and containers to heat up heroin solution (bottom) are included in the kits handed out by the Duncan Needle Exchange (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
Alcohol swabs (left), vials of distilled water (center) and containers to heat up heroin solution (bottom) are included in the kits handed out by the Duncan Needle Exchange (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

The Needle Exchange also hands out these sturdy plastic containers for used needles – Contaminated Sharps. Each container holds ten 1 ml insulin syringes. The containers are incinerated when full.

The Needle Exchange in Duncan hands out these "Contaminated Sharps) containers free of charge. The containers are made of sturdy plastic. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)
The Needle Exchange in Duncan hands out these “Contaminated Shhttp://www.duncantaxpayers.ca/wp-admin/edit-comments.phparps) containers free of charge. The containers are made of sturdy plastic. (photo by DuncanTaxpayers.ca)

Note: VIHA does not require drug users to return used syringes in order to get new, clean syringes. As a result there are a lot of used syringes discarded on streets, parks and public areas.

We will do a separate post on the Warmland Sharps Pickup Team which regularly patrols Duncan, Municipality of North Cowichan and Cowichan Tribes land to recover discarded syringes.