Dumpsters in the District of Invermere are overflowing since the transfer station in the industrial park shut down earlier this month. While the closure was to discourage improper garbage disposal and remove bear attractants after numerous bears sightings were reported in the area, garbage is now being disposed of in dumpsters across the district, and not at the landfill in Windermere as was the plan.

Witnesses have reported seeing deers up on their back hooves while attempting to eat from the garbage bags spilling out of a dumpster located in the village parking lot behind Fields.

One Fields employee said there is no longer any room in the dumpsters for refuse from the store and speculates that tourists are the cause of the problem, now that the transfer station is closed and the landfill is too far to drive for visitors on their way out of town.

Check the October 3 print edition of The Valley Echo for more on this story.