Littering or Dumping? There is a Difference

There is a difference in what is commonly called "littering" and the even more evil practice of what is legally called "dumping".

The photo on the right is "litter" on a section of Charleston Avenue that has been accumulating. It is ugly, but it can be cleaned up with just a little effort by those folks living there. They just have to decide to be responsible citizens and commit to doing it.

The photo on the left is a "dump", as defined by West Virginia state law. It is the intentional dumping of solid waste on public or private property. In all cases of "dumping", it is very time consuming to clean up and extremely expensive. This photo was taken on Saturday, March 17, 2007, on Upper Union Road in Huntington. This dump has been growing for months, as the perpetrators continue to drive into this quite neighborhood under the cover of darkness to do their evil deed.

There are penalties for both littering and dumping. The littering penalty for throwing trash from a vehicle is 3-points on the registered owner's driver's license, up to a $500 fine and/or up to 30-days in jail. The penalty for dumping solid waste on public or private property is a fine of up to $25,000 and/or up to 1-year in jail. The West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection (WV DEP) is now using cameras in a covert manner to apprehend violators. The Adopt YOUR Block project for Huntington is requesting that the Upper/Lower Union Road dumping site be equipped with covert surveillance equipment in order to identify, and prosecute, the "dumpers" who are blighting our Huntington neighborhoods and wooded areas.

What do you think about our planned-practice of using cameras to catch violators?

(To make a comment about this issue, click on "Post Comments" at the end of this post.)