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Industry Information >>Minerals, Metals>>People have remodeling jobsoften dispose of their trash on private property

People have remodeling jobsoften dispose of their trash on private property

The Somerset County wildlife conservation officers, whose jobsinclude investigating illegal dumping, said it is rampant in thecounty and has resulted in an increase in citations. “The last couple years it has increased more and more,”said wildlife conservation officer Brian Witherite.“It’s an unfortunate thing because once a dump site isestablished, more people end up doing it.”
He said people doing spring cleaning or who have remodeling jobsoften dispose of their trash on private property, state game landsor state forests.

Witherite said he thinks another reason people illegally dump trashhas to do with high fuel prices.
“When you’re transporting items from a constructionsite or cleaning out your house, you don’t want to pay tohave it picked up,” he said.

Oftentimes, contractors dump garbage because they do not want topay for the diesel to haul loads to landfills that are furtheraway, he said.

“You’ll drive along some back roads and look over theembankment and see a bunch of garbage,” he said.

Travis Anderson, another Somerset County wildlife conservationofficer, said aside from people not wanting to pay landfill fees,some residents illegally dispose of trash because of convenience.

“Even though it only costs like $18 a ton at certainlandfills, people don’t want to pay that,” Andersonsaid. “A lot of it has to do with convenience becauseit’s closer to their residence. People who live in a ruralarea can drive within five miles and they just dispose of theirgarbage.”

A lack of respect for someone’s property is becoming morecommon, he said.

“People who are dumping their trash think it’s nottheir property so they don’t worry about it,” Andersonsaid. “It happens all over. Not just one specific area. Butthe more rural and less traveled roads are more popular places forpeople to dump.”

The conservation officers said the more remote an area, the morelikely the chances are of someone dumping garbage illegally becausethey think they will not get caught. However, wildlife conservationofficers have a certain procedure they employ when trying to findevidence of someone illegally dumped their trash.

“It’s like an investigation and we look forevidence,” Witherite said. “If there is stuff in thedebris that was dumped, we might be able to see who is responsiblefor doing it. There are certain things you go looking for that giveyou a timeline of when materials would have been there.”

Items like pay stubs and receipts can be helpful to a conservationofficer in tracking down people. Although it is easy to answer acomplaint and find evidence, it is more difficult to find someonewho has dumped trash on private property, Witherite said.

“Sometimes it’s hard to track down the people,”he said. “With dumping, people are usually getting out of oneplace and going to another, so we’re trying to play catch upwith them and find them.”

Witherite said people do not expect to see a conservation officerat their door after they have disposed of their garbage.

“They are pretty shocked when we show up at theirdoor,” he said. “But more and more people are beingvigilant and calling us with a description or license plate numberof the person. Somerset County is beautiful, but these activitiesare squandering that.”

Most private landowners call in complaints about trash being ontheir property, he said.

Residents who have dumped trash and are later found are asked toclean up the garbage and dispose of it correctly. A citation isusually issued and in some instances charges are pending.

Anderson said he has investigated more dumping cases this year thanin the past. So far this year, he has given out five citations.

The best thing municipalities have done so far to try to alleviateillegal dumping is to have community cleanup days, he said.

“Many of the boroughs and townships have cleanup days andthis has helped tremendously,” he said. “They usuallydispose of stuff in the spring and one other time of theyear.”

Wildlife conservation officers said it is important to take care ofthe dump sites that are eyesores in the county, as they do not wantthem to become a reflection of the area.

(Tiffany Wright may be contacted at tiffanyw@dailyamerican.com . Comment on the online story at dailyamerican.com .)
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