He was trying to hide evidence of a house party from his parents, but in the end a young man from C.B.S. learned a lesson about littering from the court.
Evan Davies, 20, pleaded guilty in provincial court in St. John’s Thursday to a single count of illegal dumping under the province’s Environmental Protection Act.
Davies had thrown a house party in early November while his parents were out of town. After cleaning up, he looked for an unlocked dumpster in which to get rid of four bags of garbage so his parents wouldn’t see them, but he couldn’t find one.
He ended up dumping the bags in an area off Minerals Road instead. Someone noticed them and contacted municipal enforcement officers, who took photos at the site and examined the content of the bags, finding documents containing an address and phone number for Davies’ home.
When confronted, Davies admitted to officers he had dumped the garbage. He subsequently went back to the site and picked up the garbage bags, then brought them to the landfill.
“It was a good way to learn a lesson about illegal dumping,” Timothy O’Brien, duty counsel representing Davies, told the court.
“I hope you learned a lesson,” Judge Lois Skanes told Davies, who said he had.
Though not a criminal charge, unlawfully releasing waste upon land is a punishable violation of provincial legislation. Davies walked away with a $100 fine.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
