The Robin Hood Bay landfill closed Saturday due to a potential contamination by hazardous materials at the dump.

St. John’s city officials said they decided to shut down the facility to ensure the safety of the public.

Public works director Paul Mackey said a contamination has not been confirmed, but the city is assuming hazardous waste has entered the site—one of which could be asbestos.

“That is one possibility, and of course there are other materials that could be involved.”

“We’re doing a clean-up,” said Mackey.

“All our landfill equipment, our compactors, our loaders, our bulldozers, they have to clean those ... to make sure if there is any airborne material that has accumulated, it’s dealt with before we use the equipment again.”

Inconvenient surprise

Glenn Moss drove from Paradise on Saturday to drop off a truckload of garbage. He said he was frustrated to learn the dump was closed.

“It's a pain in the backside yes, a pain in the backside,” said Moss.

"Monday morning I usually start off with an empty truck, and I like to get more clientele done, and now I'm screwed for next week."

Mackey said he learned about the potential contamination late Friday night. He said the concern comes from an old demolished building from a community outside St. John’s.

Saturdays busy

Mackey said Saturdays are the busiest days at the landfill. He said on any given Saturday as many as 1800 vehicles will come by for the residential and commercial drop off.

The Robin Hood Bay landfill accepts waste from across the Eastern Region of the province, as far away as Clarenville, said Mackey.

“We wanted to get the word out so people wouldn’t be inconvenienced by turning up and not being able to access the site.”

The city is hoping to reopen the landfill to commercial users on Monday and residential users on Tuesday.