It’s an unsightly problem that’s been plaguing residents of the RM of St. Clements for a year and now it’s headed to a Manitoba court.

Residents living in St. Clements say massive piles of “lime sludge” are being dumped in the community and fear the water is being contaminated as a result.

Truckloads of the sludge keep appearing on private property. The substance is leftover after the Selkirk Water Treatment Plant filters the city’s water with limestone.

St. Clement resident Adrian De Boer is worried the large piles of sludge might affect his drinking water. There are about 100 truckloads of the sludge sitting on the land behind his home.

“If there is any kid of chemicals or anything, it is going to affect our ground water because we’re all on private wells,” said De Boer.

The City of Selkirk insists the sludge is harmless, adding it’s the same material used to make gravel roads and is also used to fertilize potato fields.

Still, De Boer blocked off his property to prevent the trucks from getting through a few months ago.

Then, he said, a contractor hired by the city found two other properties to dump it on instead.

“They decided to dump here, on floodway drive,” said De Boer.

The three dumping sites are privately owned by one man.

Now, Manitoba Conservation is taking the man and the contactor to court.

Both are charged with operating an illegal waste disposal ground. The contractor has also been charged with illegal dumping.

The City of Selkirk said the contractor was supposed to bury the sludge underground to elevate sunken properties.

Because that wasn’t happening, the city has now turned to dumping the sludge at its snow removal site. It will be used as a temporary solution until a more permanent one can be found.

“We’re hoping that the contractor and the people that have agreed to have the material dumped on their properties will come to bat and bury it like they’re supposed to,” said Randy Borsa of the City of Selkirk.

If the sludge can’t be used to build up properties, the city will look into trucking it to a landfill to dispose of there.

In the meantime, De Boer has started a petition to make sure the illegal dumping doesn’t happen again.