MEDIA RELEASE

Keep Personal Documents Out of Blue Bags

April 7, 2016

GRANDE PRAIRIE – Aquatera Utilities and City of Grande Prairie Enforcement Services are reminding residents to keep personal documents out of their recycling bags.

City Enforcement Services issued a Be On the Lookout (BOLO) Alert on Wednesday afternoon after Aquatera received a call from a customer about an unknown individual in a white truck collecting blue bags set out for curbside collection.

“We were able to confirm right away that the person driving the vehicle was not employed by Aquatera, Green For Life (GFL) or Prairie Disposal, who we contract our curbside collection services to,” says Amy Horne, Recycling Manager at Aquatera.

At this time it is unknown what the reason is for someone to be taking the blue bags and not confirmed that they were looking for personal documents.

“It could be as simple as somebody wanting to take any refundable items out of the bags,” Horne says. “However, we do urge all residents to ensure their personal documents are shredded prior to placing them in blue bags and to keep deposit items out altogether.”

Any person caught taking or rummaging through waste containers or bags placed out for collection can be issued a fine under the Utility Bylaw. Residents are asked to contact Enforcement Services immediately if they witness activity of this kind.

A “Shred It Day” will be hosted by The City of Grande Prairie’s Crime Prevention Department on Saturday, May 14 for residents interested in securely disposing of their personal documents. More information can be found at http://www.cityofgp.com/events.

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Aquatera Utilities Inc. is the Grande Prairie region’s provider of water, wastewater and solid waste services. Its core purposes is helping grow healthy communities and aims to have the best people providing the best service for the best value. For more information: www.aquatera.ca

Contact
Chelsea Lewis
Communications and Change Manager
Aquatera Utilities Inc.
P: 587.297.0692