Warren Township clears junk ‘hidey-hole’
Find mostly shells of old TVs, other refuse
Trending
WARREN TOWNSHIP -- A plethora of junk extracted from an illegal dumping site at the end of Paxton Street filled a 40-yard dumpster Wednesday morning.
"We did this last year at another couple of our dead-end streets. We cleaned it up, put barricades up, put signs up, put a camera up, and it worked. We were able to turn around and deter people going down there," said township Trustee Ed Anthony, who said the dead-end streets likely are chosen for illegal dumping because they are isolated.
The Paxton Street cleanup was made possible by a $2,500 "Go Green" grant through the Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste Management District, which paid for the dumpster and also will pay for the "no dumping" signs, a camera and a barrier, according to Anthony. Road department employees assisted with the cleanup during their regular work hours.
Jennifer Jones, executive director of the Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste Management District, said cleanups are one of many types of projects the district can help fund through its community grants.
Jones called cleanup projects like Paxton Street "extremely important."
"Not only are they better for the environment, they're better for the community, too," Jones said. "Nobody wants to live near a place that has a dump site nearby. Nobody wants to see that stuff, so they leave. We want the population to grow in this area. We want businesses to come here … In order to do that, you need to have clean, beautiful, nice areas."
After about two hours of work, the items near the road were cleared and the dumpster was full, but some remaining debris further back in the wooded area will need to be removed later.
The bulk of debris cleared from the site was shells of old televisions.
"The problem with televisions is they're extremely expensive to dispose of properly, but inside the television itself there's things like copper," Jones said. She said people will collect TVs from curbs, take out the valuable components and illegally dump the leftovers.
"This pile is obviously someone's hidey-hole," Jones said.
She added the solid waste district takes old TVs at its Trumbull collection facility, 5138 Enterprise Blvd. NW, Warren. The site collects appliances and electronics Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday during regular business hours.
Of the televisions, Jones said, "Please bring them to us instead of putting them to your curb because if you put it to your curb and it disappears, it doesn't actually disappear -- it ends up at a place like this."
Tires, children's toys and miscellaneous broken items also were cleared from the Paxton dump spot.
Township Road Superintendent Joe Toporcer said since he began working for the township in May, approximately $4,500 of road department funds has been spent cleaning illegal dump sites. The department also has collected some 400 tires in that time, which cost approximately $800 to dispose of, Toporcer said.
"My big bugaboo in life is illegal dumping and littering," Toporcer said, adding he plans to keep the cleanup effort going, hopefully with the help of more grant money.
Toporcer wants to clear another dead-end street before winter. The site, also on the southeast corner of the township, is used to pile up snow when plowing in the winter but is littered with what Toporcer estimates is several tons of roof shingles.
Anthony said while the township already has cleaned illegal dumping sites "too many times" -- he pointed to Carl Street, Sixth Street and an area off Eighth Street -- "We've got to keep up on it."
He said in the past, some neighbors have seen and reported illegal dumping, allowing the township to enforce several cases. People who are caught are given a window to clean up their mess, usually seven days, and are charged if they don't remove their items, he said.
"We're not the only township that's a dumping ground," Anthony said. "It's just unfortunate that we have so many dead-end streets. So, we'll just continue doing what we can. Hopefully with that and enforcement, we can fix the problem."