‘The smell was horrible!’: Dump truck spills compost along streets of Burnside

A dump truck’s gate unexpectedly opened during transit, unleashing a load of compost onto the road in the Burnside neighbourhood.

City crews were called to the intersection of Bridge Street and Gorge Road to clean up a large spill of refuse Wednesday.

“The compost truck was heading up Bridge towards Gorge and it started spilling its load on Bridge, then he turned left onto the Gorge and then right at Tim Hortons,” Monique Turgeon tells CHEK News. “The compost was spilled all the way.”

Rotting food, compost, and wet refuse covered the crosswalk and part of the intersection, leaving behind a foul odour.

“The smell was horrible! Not a fun day for those poor city workers,” Turgeon added.

Traffic on Bridge Street was briefly reduced to a single lane as cars moved to avoid the spill.

Within the hour, the city had brought out two backhoe loader trucks to help clean up the mess.

Shortly afterwards, two street sweepers made multiple passes in the area, spraying down the road and clearing the area of any debris.

A spokesperson with the City of Victoria said that the contractor will be charged for the cleanup.

The dump trucks gate is ajar, and compost spills onto the road.Traffic is reduced to a single lane on Bridge Street as a result. | Courtesy of Monique TurgeonTwo backhoe trucks clean up the mess.

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