This series consists of waste management files for areas across the province from 1948-1981. The records were created by the Pollution Control Branch of the Ministry of Environment, and its predecessors. They document the management of waste outside the waste management permit system, but still under the authority of the Waste Management Act (SBC 1982 c. 41).

Waste management can involve the disposal or mitigation of: water pollution, assessing water quality, sewage, waste from slaughterhouses and canneries, garbage and other solid waste, heavy metals, oil, agricultural or manure, and other industrial discharges.

Topics addressed in the files include: major federal-provincial or international activities or issues related to large areas such as an entire watershed; assessments of the environmental health of certain areas of the province through various tests, sampling, inspections and surveys; liaison with other waste management authorities in the province, such as municipalities and other levels of government; correspondence with individuals or groups making complaints or voicing concerns over environmental issues and waste disposal; and correspondence with potential permittees prior to application of a waste management permit.

Records include correspondence, memoranda, water quality reports, studies, statistical data, agreements, newspaper clippings, photos and maps.

Some of the larger files regard places such as: Columbia River basin, Buttle Lake, Fraser River, Kamloops, Kelowna, Libby Dam, Naramata, Okanagan Basin, Thompson River, Trail Cominco Mine, Victoria, and the Greater Vancouver area. However, other files relate to other municipalities and bodies of water across the province.

The records are arranged alphabetically by area or place. Some files contain records related to multiple places beginning with a particular latter. For example, the 'Area “D”' file includes records on Deroche, Dawson Creek, Deadman Creek, etc.