News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Van Buren County’s Piney Convenience Center has closed temporarily due to after hours dumping.
Van Buren’s Solid Waste Coordinator Dale Cole said officials recently removed the compactor. Residents were throwing garbage on the ground and on the top of the compactor while it was closed each night.
“Several truck loads were having to be picked up in a three or four day period,” Cole said. “Mostly, it was just household garbage like paper products.”
Cole said the county started to receive complaints from the Pine Grove community near the center, because the wind would blow trash into the roadways.
The problem has grown in the past months, but has not been this bad in the past. On the worst days, cleanup would take around four hours. Cole said security cameras will be placed around the center once it reopens in about four weeks.
The county moved the compactor to the Spencer Recycling Center to discourage illegal dumping until the cleanup is complete. Van Buren has cameras at the Spencer and Rocky River facilities. Cole said eventually, they want cameras at all of their centers.
