CLEARFIELD – Clearfield County has a growing illegal dumping problem, according to Girard Township citizen Lyle Millard, who is also chairman of the county’s solid waste authority.
At Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting, Millard said illegal dumping complaints had been on the decline through 2014. In 2015, he said the CCSWA’s illegal dumping enforcement officer handled 198 complaints.
Millard presented the commissioners with pictures, which he said depicted a “small sample” of the illegal dumping problem in Clearfield County. He blamed it on the termination of the electronics recycling problem with the pictures showing the dumped televisions.
“It’s getting worse and worse and worse,” he said. “… And, since we’re putting all of our [recycling] boxes in to one location, it’s going to create an even bigger problem.
“Right now our enforcement officer is running six days behind in his complaints. We have a snowball right here. Right now the snowball is small, but in the next few months, it’s going to get worse.”
Millard said he wasn’t there as the CCSWA board chairman but as a private citizen. He said on his road alone near his residence, there are four illegal dumping sites.
According to Millard, the CCSWA doesn’t have the financial ability to give the enforcement officer any more hours. He called attention to the commissioners’ decision to make it a part-time enforcement position.
“Now, things are getting so bad,” he said. “We need a full-time [enforcement position]. In fact, I believe he should be a full-time position, and he could use a helper.”
Millard added, “If we don’t have it, Clearfield County will in short order look really bad. We will never get businesses to come into Clearfield County if the whole county is a dump site.”
Millard suggested the commissioners consider funding a full-time illegal dumping officer and authorizing another one. If they can’t do both, he thought maybe they could pick up the difference between the part-time and full-time salary.
“He [enforcement officer] will not be able to keep up with this,” he said. Millard said he’s also discussed the illegal dumping problem with municipal officials in Girard Township, where he resides at.
Commissioner Mark B. McCracken said there was a need for state legislation to generate revenue again to support the recycling program and illegal dumping enforcement.
He reminded that there was previously a very good stream of revenue. However, it was challenged by the waste haulers and taken away many years ago; since then, he said it hasn’t been addressed by state legislators.
“They could very quickly put together the legislation and act on it if they weren’t being lobbied and pressured by waste haulers. That’s who they are playing master to and not to their citizens, especially in these rural towns,” McCracken said.
In a meeting with State Reps. Tommy Sankey and Matt Gabler, Solicitor Kim Kesner said they were a very open and receptive audience on the recycling/illegal dumping problem facing the county.
Beyond that, Kesner the county has been providing a service to municipalities by funding an illegal dumping program. But now that the funding stream has dried up, it’s up to the municipalities if they find it to be an emerging problem to handle it within their authority.