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MERRITT HERALD FREE
TUESDAY, MAY 7, 2013 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Recovery of teens’ bodies brings closure By Staff
THE HERALD newsroom@merrittherald.com
Merritt’s residential sanitation truck picks up a recycling bin on Juniper Drive during its afternoon route on Thursday. Craig Lindsay/Herald
The bodies of two Langley teens, Austin Kingsborough and Brendan Wilson, have been found in Nicola Lake after a brief search by an independent company from Idaho. The company, which specializes in recovering bodies from big lakes, had been brought up by family friends after the RCMP had halted their search on Friday. The bodies were located at a depth of 75 feet in Nicola Bay near the area where the canoe had been located two weeks earlier. The two boys were vacationing in Merritt and staying at Wilson’s parents’ cabin on Nicola Lake. The two were reported missing on Sunday, April 23 after going canoeing on the lake and not returning. “It sounded like the couple that came from Idaho began their search yesterday (Sunday)
until it got dark,” said Merritt RCMP Cpl. Tracy Dunsmore. “They were out first thing this morning (Monday). One of the family members said they had had a hit. At that point it became a coroner’s investigation.” Dunsmore said the bodies were quickly identified as the two Langley boys. She said the equipment used by the Idaho company was essential to finding the bodies. “It took them about a day and a half to find them,” she said. “The equipment they have is apparently more sophisticated than the equipment we have, and this couple has been doing this since 1999. This was the 83rd or 84th people they’ve found. It’s a long lake and quite deep. There’s a lot of silt, a lot of debris down there and that presents quite a challenge to the divers.” Dunsmore said it’s important that the family now has closure and is able to properly mourn.
Merritt rolls out new recycling program By Craig Lindsay THE HERALD
newsroom@merrittherald.com
The City of Merritt is keeping up with the recycling needs of residents with a new sanitation truck to go along with the recently completed eco-depot facility in Lower Nicola. “The truck was new last year as was the garbage rollout (when the city starting using automated bins),” said Darrel Finnigan, superintendent of public works for the
City of Merritt. “We were waiting for the Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD) to finish the site before we could roll out the recycling, so we could deliver the recycling properly.” The city began its doorto-door recycling service on April 30. Other than a few hiccups, it’s been smooth sailing, said Finnigan. He said it’s important people properly separate their recycling from their garbage. “Keeping contaminants
such as cheesy pizza boxes out is a big part — it just takes up space where it shouldn’t be,” he said. There are several misconceptions around town about the new truck and the recycling program. “The biggest misconception is that we are putting recycling and garbage in the same truck,” said Finnigan. “People need to know that the truck has two sides to it. When the truck grabs garbage it dumps it into one
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half. When it puts the empty bin down, there’s a valve in the truck that flips over. When the truck picks up the recycling bin it goes into a completely different compartment. As the operator finishes the route and goes out to the eco-depot, it’s dumped separately. He dumps the recycling in the recycling pile, and then dumps the garbage in the garbage pile.” Each residence in Merritt receives one garbage bin and one recycling bin which are
paid for through their water, sewer and garbage taxes and are picked up at the same time on the same day each week. Finnigan says it’s important for residents to keep their recycling and garbage bins one metre apart so the truck can easily pick them up. “Today (May 2) on one route, I probably separated 30 different residences where they had them pushed together,” he said. “That just
takes time for the operator and he doesn’t have much time in a day to complete the route.” Finnigan said the ratio of recycling picked up compared to garbage is 60 to 40. “The more we can keep out of the landfill, the longer we’ll be able to use it,” he said. “Space for landfills is very limited, so if we can recycle and re-use, that’s the best option.”
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