Sharps containers going in city buildings, parks

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This article was published 19/12/2019 (2193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Brandon is set to place sharps containers in city parks and municipal buildings in an effort to reduce the number of used needles lying in the streets and garbage cans.

Greg Brown, the city’s occupational safety and health co-ordinator, said the six boxes will be located at Stanley Park, Princess Park, Rideau Park, Coronation Park, Downtown Transit Terminal, and the A.R. McDiarmid Building.

The six locations listed in a city council-approved motion is significantly pared down from what was first proposed in November by the Sexuality Education Resource Centre. The original proposal called for containers to be placed at locations around downtown, including at the intersection of Louise Avenue and Fifth Street, under the 18th Street Bridge, the Sexuality Education Resource Centre, and in between Super Thrift and Helping Hands.

During Monday’s council meeting, Brown acknowledged not all locations on the list were chosen, but the six council voted to approve are a good start.

“We already have collection systems in place in those various facilities … so it is an easy way to start the program and also assess the cost of that program over the next year without having to experience a lot of cost associated with it,” Brown said.

The city likely won’t need to change the bin liners that often, Brown said, as the city does not anticipate that many needles or sharps going into them.

The cost was initially pegged at $2,000 per year, but that is only an estimate, he said. Prairie Mountain Health is handling the sharps’ disposal.

Coun. Barry Cullen (Victoria) said he was concerned about the location of the bins and worried whether people will know how to properly pick up used needles and put them in the bins.

Prairie Mountain Health has already started a public awareness campaign on how to handle used needles, Brown said, and the city is involved. There are posters up around the city and there will be instructions on the containers themselves.

“There is very little risk in handling the needle compared to leaving it on the ground. … If you pick it up by the barrel, there is no risk of that nature. I would be far more concerned about leaving the needle on the ground for somebody else to find to step on,” Brown said.

The news comes at the same time Brandon Bear Clan Patrol reports the number of needles they picked up in 2019 almost doubled from 2018 levels. Kim Longstreet, a member of the patrol, said on Monday they were finding more needles in makeshift containers like two-litre bottles, which shows harm reduction approaches are working.

“I think when you give people opportunities and educate them about better ways of disposing, I think that will happen,” she said. “People recognize that just dumping them or throwing them into garbage cans or dumpsters is not the right thing to do.”

While council only approved six containers to start with, Brown said they will help normalize the presence of sharps containers in the community. The city heard lots of concerns regarding where the containers will be, but the few to start with will help with awareness.

Brown said the containers will be installed in the spring, once the ground is thawed enough to put them in.

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