- OwenSoundHub staff

We are following up on the experience of a local woman who left the Owen Sound Police station frustrated last Friday after reporting the discovery of a bag of used syringes. The woman says she was told by a uniformed officer "Unfortunately we can't deal with that, do you know someone with a sharps container who could get it cleaned up?"
Matthew McCoy of Addicts Attic removed the needles into a sharps container and delivered them to Public Health, and then received the following from the OSPS Community Services Officer via Twitter.
"We do pick up used hypodermic needles if they are located/found within the city boundaries. We pick them up often when citizens call or otherwise inform us of found needles in our city. A police officer responds and we use our equipment and dispose of them in a sharps container that each of the OSPS vehicles have on board. We then dispose them into a secure sharps bin at the station for destruction. (If in Owen Sound, and we are notified we will always attend and recover the items.)"
Although residents and visitors are not always aware of municipal boundaries, in this particular case the needles were found in Georgian Bluffs. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said that if a member of the public finds a needle or other hazard in their jurisdiction, they can call 519-794-7827 and the OPP will attend.
In the instructions from Public Health on this subject, residents are told "If you don't feel comfortable collecting the needle yourself, you can call local municipal workers or local police to inquire if they will assist." The Owen Sound Public Works department phone number is 519-376-4274.
The sharps disposal container installed in the public washroom in the Owen Sound Farmers' Market building as part of a one-year pilot project is being well used (see photo above).