Residents in a string of small Newfoundland communities have voted to close their controversial garbage dump, following years of anxiety about contamination from PCBs.

Dozens of electrical transformers were buried at the New Harbour dump in the 1990s, although residents were not made aware of this until only a few years ago.

A dump serving the New Harbour region of Trinity Bay will close early in 2007.
(CBC)

Woodrow Mullett, who chairs the town's dump committee, said residents were nearly unanimous in calling for the dump.

"They were quite happy to have the dump closed and have the garbage go to Robin Hood Bay," said Mullett, referring to the regional landfill in St. John's, about 100 kilometres east of New Harbour.

"What they were really, really concerned about, and this came through very clear, is that the transformers currently on the site … have to come out of there — full stop," Mullett said.

An independent study released in 2003 showed concentrations of neurotoxins, such as manganese, mercury and lead, that exceeded federal guidelines hundreds of times over.

Mullett said that while the Newfoundland and Labrador government committed more than $500,000 in 2004 to cleaning up the dump, more money will likely be needed.

Eight communities that use the dump expect to start trucking garbage to the Robin Hood Bay landfill early in 2007.