Autauga Co. Officials Partner With ADEM To Clean Illegal Dumpsites
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An exclusive story from Autauga County — leaders there say they’re cracking down on littering. They say they’re tired of people throwing their trash in illegal dumpsites on the west part of the county.
You can barely see the road from the bottom of this dumpsite — it’s 250 feet deep and filled with trash. So high, the trash almost touches the rim of this pipe. It’s been sitting here off County Road 22 in Autauga County for about 30 years.
“It’s disappointing, but it’s just amazing to see how people will dump! I mean, they’ll find a place that’s convenient to them and when you look at what’s happening here now,” Said Autauga County Commission Chairman, Carl Johnson.
The trash is causing errosion. And some is even going off into a nearby creek. But this illegal dumpsite is just one of six in the county facing the same problems. It’s why the county has partnered with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management the piles of trash picked up.
“Until this point right now, I just loaded the eleventh load,” Said Jimmy Vinson, with C.W. Owens Enterprises. “[The trailers are] 53 feet long. 26 tons per load is what it’s averaging.
That’s about 280 tons of trash at just one dumpsite. Autauga County leaders say the work’s been hard and expensive. They say they wouldn’t have been able to start the clean up process if it weren’t for a $200,000 grant provided by ADEM.
“All garbage and waste is supposed to be placed in a landfill permitted by ADEM so that dumping or using it for erosion control on your property is illegal,” Said John Paul O’Driscoll, solid waste officer with the Autauga County Commission.
If you’re caught dumping trash you could be fined $250 a day. County leaders say they’ve had to fine people as much as $9,000.
County leaders say they’ve received more than 300 complaints about the illegal dumpsites. They hope to clear them out in the next five months.
