I'm not so sure that the penalties are actually that severe. Especially in Canada. He would likely get presented with what would amount to an expensive fine....paying to clean up the mess. Properly. Overseen by the DNR wonks. If he was lucky enough that the effluent plume of the bad stuff leaching out of his crap pile in the groundwater has not moved off the property, then he could clean it up himself by choosing the most competitive contractors to do the job. If the crap had started running off his property, then the gov't boys would step in and get the job done and he would lose any control of the cost to clean it up.
More to the point of reporting...I would think a gov't guy would see it as your word against his. And you have not seen anything being buried, but just were TOLD that it was buried. Would the gov't go through the expenses of going to a judge to get a search warrant, hiring a hoe to go out and dig to prove there was stuff there, and analysing what was found to see just how bad the whole mess truly is? For example, is there lots of groundwater in the area? Is it flowing quickly? Is the ground chemistry such that it would speed oxidation of the bad stuff so water can move it away? How much bad stuff is actually there? Was one motorcycle-sized battery buried or 100 large heavy equipment-sized batteries? Is the buried lead a bigger issue than buried steel? Finally, how busy is the local DNR? Do they have the equivalent of 20 Love Canals and a bunch of defunct steel mills and coal tar plants that they are handling? Then this item might be pretty small potatoes to them.
Is there a law in your jurisdiction that says you must report something that is suspected was done that is against the law?
All of these questions will colour the answer for this particular situation and the specific question (report or not?). For you, it comes down to your own moral compass.
But don't be surprised if nothing happens if a report is made.
Hope this helps,
Jon.
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