RCMP Investigate Assault at Oxford Dump
The Oxford Transfer station has been a hot topic for the past several months, but what began as an annoyance escalated to outright vandalism and now — an assault on an Oxford resident.
A person who was not authorised to dispose of material at the transfer station was confronted by the facility’s attendant around midday yesterday. What happened next is unclear, though it appears another user of the station exchanged words with the first person, and was attacked with bare-knuckle blows. No weapons are believed to have been used.
The victim of the assault received non-life-threatening injuries. The facility attendant was not injured.
RCMP were called to the scene. It is unknown if a suspect has been located or whether charges are pending.
Reached for comment today, Oxford Mayor Greg Henley said, “Bad behaviour is another reason to close this antiqued relic from the past. We have to consider the safety of the Town employees.”
The Town began cracking down on non-resident use of the station in last November, requiring users to present an authorisation card that is given to all local households.
Since that time, there have been incidents of garbage being left at the gate while it was closed, an annoyance for public works staff who had to clean up the mess, and deal with material that was not acceptable for disposal.
This escalated to outright vandalism, with the transfer station gate being broken, chains cut, and other destruction.
Those breaking into the facility were believed to be scavenging for scrap metal, which has some value in recycling depots.
In another recent incident, the station attendant arrived to discover that someone had thrown about 20 bags of garbage on top of the (closed) compost container. When attempting to remove the bags, at least one was discovered to be full of dishes — a potentially hazardous situation for the attendant pulling the bags down to the ground.
Security cameras on the scene captured video of the perpetrators. Those images are now in the hands of police. The case remains “open”.
The Town of Oxford is working to improve security at the station, with a new front gate scheduled to be installed.
Closing the facility has been floated by the mayor for the past year, arguing it represents an expense that Oxford taxpayers could do without.
Efforts to put the question to the public have been stymied due to the cost of a plebiscite and the lack of candidates for recent by-elections in which the question could have been included as part of the election process.
An informal review of social media response to the idea has been generally negative, though the town has not presented a case for closing the facility.
It is unlikely the matter will go before residents until the next general election set for the fall of next year.
The attached photo shows garbage bags piled on the top of the compost container at the Oxford Transfer Station. The photos below show the station gate and the dumping authorisation given only to residents of Oxford.
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