The MD of Willow Creek is on the hunt for people who are dumping their garbage in pristine rural areas.

It puts a costs the MD taxpapers over time and soon it could be costing the dumpers.

There has been two recent incidents of shingles being dumped on the side of a rural road.

Chief Administrative Officer Cynthia Vizzutti says they're not messing around, anyone caught dumping trash will be prosecuted and charged with the cleanup costs.

"This has been an ongoing problem for many years," said Vizzutti. "It is unfortunate and frankly it is shameful that people would go out into the pristine countryside and throw garbage all over it."

"We are constantly cleaning up messes like shingles, chesterfields, abandoned refrigerators, washers, dryers, mattresses, it really is shameful."

She adds the services are very well managed at the landfills.

"There are two excellent regional waste commissions, one in the MD and one in Foothills that provide this service. This is constant. We actually have big bins in our yards where our employees have to take time from trying to manage 2200 miles of roads and bridges to clean up someone else's garbage."

She also adds, "the cost just keeps compounding."

It costs the MD taxpayers a lot of money to clean it up, and now anyone caught dumping garbage will face charges from the MD as well.

Besides the fines they would be billed for the costs of the cleanup, which in the case of the shingles they had a big truck, a loader and three employees.

"They are having to gather up as much of the shingles as they could then they had to hand pick the rest of it because the nails end up all over the road."

The MD is asking if anyone sees someone dumping trash to call them at 403-625-3351 or the RCMP.

Questions, comments, or story ideas? Email us at news@okotoksonline.com