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Employees of the Department of Environmental Protection have overseen the
successful cleanup of an illegal open dump in Ritchie County, according to an environmental
specialist with the Pollution Prevention and Open Dump arm of the agency.
Crews cleaned up more than 30 tons of solid waste and 475 tires at a site on CR 30/1, Mayberry
Road. Graham Excavating was contracted to handle the cleanup.
"If people notice open dumps cropping up, they should report them to us right away - even
before they get really big," said Greg Rote, a PPOD project manager and environmental
specialist. "These dumps pose many kinds of hazards that can be harmful to citizens' safety
and the environment."
The number of large open dumps across the state is dwindling, but there has been an increase
in the number of small dumps cropping up. And now that spring is making an appearance, finding
those small dumps obscured in greenery and brambles gets more challenging.
In 2002, the PPOD reclaimed 854 sites, disposed of 4,090 tons of solid waste, recycled 1,003
tons of steel and reclaimed 457 acres of the Mountain State. Since the program began in 1989,
there have been 6, 616 open dump sites cleaned up statewide, 92,321 tons of solid waste
removed, 25,354 tons of steel recycled and 4,467 acres reclaimed.
Last year, work crews properly disposed of 31,923 tires, 4,011 appliances and 369 tons of
recyclable metals. Since 1989, the program has handled 293,133 tires, 66,032 appliances and
14,597 tons of recyclable metals.
"We are a real white-hat program," said Dan Fowler, PPOD project manager. "Not only do we
oversee open dump cleanups, we do educational sessions in schools and with other
organizations."
The program budgets $1 million alone for open dump cleanup efforts. During any given month,
there could be anywhere from 50 to 70 cleanups going on across the state. The PPOD staff keeps
busy tackling new open dumps and reclaimed ones that have been trashed again.
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