Medical waste found on P.E.I. property not believed to have any criminal aspect, RCMP say
Waste on property owned by Moonlight International Foundation has been cleaned up
The RCMP says there's no indication that a small pile of unsecured medical waste found on a rural property in eastern P.E.I. has any criminal aspect.
In an email to CBC News Thursday, the RCMP said the provincial Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action asked them to conduct a review of the waste and how it got to the vacant land near Murray River.
"Our conclusion is that there is no information to suggest there is a criminal act or intent," the email reads. "RCMP will not be further involved in this, and we have no interest in the items recovered."
Police say the property owners contracted a third-party service to clean up the waste.
Earlier this month, CBC News reported on the discovery of what appeared to be vials of blood, testing strips and other medical waste..
The land is owned by Moonlight International Foundation, a non-profit with ties to the Buddhist community in the province.
Photos obtained by CBC News via drone showed the materials in a loose pile on the ground. Some of the material had writing in Chinese characters.
The Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action confirmed staff had inspected the area on July 9, and said the amount of waste they found would fit into a small garbage bag.
A spokesperson for the Moonlight International Foundation said in an email that the group had learned about the medical waste through correspondence with CBC News, calling it "truly a regrettable situation."
Under the P.E.I. Environmental Protection Act's waste resource management regulations, no person can dispose of special waste, which includes medical waste, except at an appropriate landfill or composting facility that's approved to accept the material.