Adopt-A-Dump Program Offered in Region

  Area citizens, groups or organizations interested in assisting in ridding Southwest Virginia hillsides of unwanted trash and garbage have an opportunity to help through the new Adopt-A-Dump program being offered in the region.
  Many residents in Southwest Virginia know where unsightly dumps are located and in some cases where they are still being used today. All three member counties of the Cumberland Plateau Regional Waste Management Authority have implemented anti-litter campaigns focused on cleanup of identified illegal dumps and to date, member counties (Buchanan, Dickenson and Russell) and their Litter Control offices have cleaned 100-plus dumps. In 2004, the member counties started a joint partnership known as the Tri-County Illegal Dump Cleanup project.  This program utilizes resources from the three counties to clean up illegal dumps within all three counties.  Since the creation of the project, 13 regional dumps have been cleaned, removing approximately 138.6 tons of improperly disposed of solid waste (garbage, automobiles, etc.).
  In January 2007, the three counties built on the regional initiative by promoting a new anti-litter clean-up program targeted for citizens and community groups-known as the Adopt-A-Dump program. 
  The new Adopt-A-Dump program is designed so that citizen groups, civic organizations and community groups can assist their litter control offices with cleaning up some of the dumps now in existence. To date more than 600 illegal dumps have been inventoried and placed on a map. Buchanan County has mapped 140 so far with a mapping completion date expected later this year. Dickenson County has mapped a total 252 dumps; and Russell County has mapped 298.  Of the sites identified, the majority of the sites are classified as being small dumps. 
  According to Cumberland Plateau Regional Waste Management Authority Regional Litter and Recycling Coordinator Toby Edwards, “small dumps comprised the majority of our survey and are by definition sites that can be cleaned in one to two hours by a group of citizens, scout group or civic organization.”
  The program works as follows:
  • an interested citizen or group may contact their local Litter Control and Recycling office with their interest and the number of dumps they would like to adopt;
  • the litter control officers will determine what area of the county the group or citizen will be conducting their clean-up.  Following the initial contact, the Litter Control Officer will notify the citizen of the dump site location and with the appropriate Adopt-A-Dump waiver form and scheduling of their event; and
  • the citizen or group then notifies the Litter Control Officer that the cleanup event has been completed and the number of bags of trash they collected or weight they deposited at the Solid Waste Transfer Station.
  Buchanan County Litter Control Officer Jerry Ward noted that in order for the counties to be cleaned, all must work together.
  “Citizens, governments, businesses and community groups call this home and together we can address the issue of dumping,” Ward said.
  Eugene Mullins from Dickenson County’s Litter Control Office, explained that to stop the litter problem, citizens need to be engaged in the process of cleaning the dumps.
  "Until you clean up a dump, the understanding of how big a problem dumps are in our counties isn’t so clear,” Mullins said.
  After, however, it becomes evident.
  Both Ward and Mullins encouraged citizen to report those who chose to litter.
  “If you see someone throwing something over the hill . . .  call us," they both noted. "We will see that it is taken care of." Dumping is against the law even if it’s on private property. State law notes that improperly disposed municipal solid waste means dumping of trash/garbage/abandoned cars at a site that’s not a permitted disposal site.  An example of a permitted site is a designated drop off site, landfill or transfer station.  Those who own property are ultimately responsible for clean-up, but in most cases, citizens are not the ones dumping the trash.  This is why the counties have been assisting property owners with clean-up activities and are not charging them for something their neighbors have put on them.
  To report litter bugs and to learn about the Adopt-A-Dump program, contact the Buchanan County Litter Control and Recycling office at 276-935-4574; Dickenson County Litter Control and Recycling office at 276-835-8806; and the Russell County Litter Control and Recycling office at 276-889-8000.

Residents Ask If 'Dump' Will Be Cleaned
Knox Property Declared 'Surplus' May Be Sold

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
  Some Knox area residents attending a public hearing held Monday to determine public interest in a piece of surplus real estate in the Knox District between Sycamore Branch and Kershaw Branch of Guesses Fork were interested not so much in purchasing the property, as they were in finding out who will be responsible for cleaning it up.
  Monroe Matney told members of the board he owned property surrounding  the piece of property in question, which he described as "a trash dump."
  "A lot of hazardous materials have been put in there and I think somebody should clean it up," Matney said. "There are transformers, mine batteries and vehicles."
  Matney wanted to know if the property was sold if the coal company which has expressed an interest in buying it will be responsible for cleaning it up.
  At last month's supervisor's meeting, it was noted a coal company had expressed interest in buying the 15.846 tract of land, however, board members agreed they could not sell the property without first declaring it to be surplus and opening any potential sale of the property to the public.
  It was noted last month that the board had not been aware the county owned the property until the coal company approached the county about the possibility of the company purchasing it.
  "Will the coal company clean it up?" Matney asked during Monday's public hearing.
  County Administrator W.J. Caudill said no decision had been made yet on the property.
  Matney said hundreds of loads and garbage had been pushed over on to his property.
  North Grundy Chairman Carroll Branham asked when the garbage was pushed on to Matney's property and Matney said it had occurred through the years.
  "The whole county did," he alleged. "Nobody looked after it and took took care of it."
  He said garbage was dumped on the site not only from Virginia, but he alleged from West Virginia and Kentucky as well.
  Big Sandy Soil and Water Conservation District Director Bobby Hall, who was in attendance at Monday's meeting on another matter, said the Knox property was where the county dumped trash in the 1970s and 1980s.
  The property was purchased by the county in September 1968.
  "It was a regular trash dump, like Hoot Owl," Hall said, adding there were people hired and trucks which dumped there. He said he knew people paid $1 per month and there were two men, he said, who picked up the garbage at that time.
  The clean-up, he suggested, was definitely not Matney's responsibility and he said the dump is one which has been identified by the Regional Waste Management Authority in need of clean-up.
  William Justus, who was also in attendance at Monday's hearing, expressed concern about whether people's well water in the area might be contaminated as a result of the water run-off from the dump. He suggested the water needed to be tested.
  He also suggested local residents should be given first priority in purchasing the land.
  It was noted that if the property is sold, it will be sold at public auction or by sealed bids submitted to the board.
  Some asked what the coal company wanted with the property and Caudill said it was his understanding they wanted it to use for a hollow fill.
  "The county didn't know it owned the property until they approached us," Caudill said of the coal company request for the land.
  He suggested if the property is sold there could be a stipulation placed in conjunction with the sale that the buyer must clean it up.
  South Grundy Supervisor Roger Rife recommended that Caudill and Assistant County Attorney Lee Moise pursue the avenues necessary to identify the clean-up process and the board agreed by consensus to ask them to do that.