Re: the hot tub story in the Citizen May 26 and 27.
I wish I had commented sooner, but I was in Vancouver for surgery when the story and photo came out. I returned to Prince George on Tuesday evening and spoke with those involved Wednesday.
Over the May long weekend two old traded in hot tubs were taken by an Eden employee to be used as target practice at a shooting range.
The employee asked for the store manager's permission to do so. However, due to miscommunication, misunderstanding, and a lack of judgment, the tubs were left behind.
Afterward, it also became clear the site was not even an authorized shooting range. When the store manager became aware of the facts, and that the tubs had not yet been properly disposed of (as is our policy), the site was immediately cleaned up, including trash left there by others (barbecues, TVs, etc.).
By Tuesday, after the long weekend, the site was cleaned and all trash deposited at the landfill. Satisfied, the conservation officer who inquired about the incident thanked our store manager for his prompt response.
The story in the Citizen was published Thursday after everything had already been cleaned up. The photo used in the story was not taken by Citizen staff, and understandably they did not publicly disclose the source.
If the newspaper had gone to the site on Wednesday before printing the story, they would have seen a different picture.
However, as the business owner, I take full responsibility for this embarrassing and isolated occurrence. We are taking appropriate action to ensure this never recurs.
We do not tolerate any illegal dumping by our employees. Our policy has always been to dispose of waste in a safe, lawful and responsible manner.
Since 1977 weve been proud to call this beautiful city home. We have a long history of contributing to worthwhile local and environmental causes. We build on that tradition as we continue as strong advocates for making Prince George a beautiful place to live, work and play.
We are committed to treating our community, clients and environment with the utmost respect. We thank the conservation officer, media and the public for bringing this issue to our attention.
We are grateful to our many longstanding customers, friends and business associates for their understanding and gracious response to this unfavourable turn of events.
Brian Kenna
Prince George
