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Mount Pearl man confronts truck driver over early morning noise

Bob Stamp is fed up with early morning banging and clanging by his house, and it finally led to a confrontation.

The Mount Pearl man says waste management company GFL makes a racket emptying a garbage bin near his house as early as four in the morning — three hours earlier than the city's noise bylaw allows — a few days a week.

It's been happening for three years, he said, and he's not getting any help from Mount Pearl's municipal enforcement officers.

"I ask them are they allowed to do it, they tell me no, and for three years I haven't been getting any satisfaction from anybody over there," he said.

Last week, Stamp tried calling Mount Pearl Deputy Mayor Jim Locke.

"He hasn't returned my phone calls, so I'm at the end of my rope. I don't know what to do."

Blocks truck in parking lot

Things came to a head around 5 a.m. Friday morning, when he was woken up by a GFL truck emptying bins.

He'd had enough, so Stamp followed the driver to a nearby Tim Hortons and used his own car to block the driver coming out of the parking lot.

"He got out of the truck, said he was going to back up over me. I said go head," said Stamp. "Then he said, 'I'm going to phone the cops.' I said, 'Go ahead, I don't care.'"

Two police cars arrived within about 20 minutes, said Stamp, and the officers told him to move his car.

Unsure what to do next

"I said fine (but) I want you to charge him with disturbing the peace, and they said no, he's just doing his job," said Stamp.

Stamp said he asked the police what he's supposed to do about the noise, and an officer got in close to his face and told him to move again.

"I thought he was pretty ignorant for a police officer," he said. "If anything, the police officer should owe me a personal apology, as far as I'm concerned."

He said he's not sure what to do next.

"I feel like a fool. You go over to the municipal police and ask if they're allowed to do it, and they tell you no, and it keeps happening," said Stamp.

"I'm sure if it was happening in front of [Mount Pearl Mayor Randy] Simms' house, or any councillor's house, it would not be happening."

When contacted by CBC, GFL manager Shannon Crawley said the noise would stop.

"I completely understand where he's coming from," said Crawley.

"We do try to structure our routes around city bylaws — the 7 a.m. rule. You can rest assured it won't happen again."