City Budget
City officials look to crack down on illegal dumping in order to build on the success of last weekend's record-setting citywide spring cleanup. Catching dumpers isn't easy but business owners in one Philadelphia neighborhood are teaming up with the city to help out.
By Bill Hangley
WHYY News, April 9, 2008
Department of Streets Deputy Commissioner Carlton Williams is happy with Saturday's cleanup, which he says snared a lot more than gum wrappers.
"We had a lot of reports of just different types of debris, heavy debris, household debris, furniture," said Williams. "The majority of our tonnage was litter. We had 900 tons of litter and 300 tons of illegally dumped material."
Illegal dumpers can be punished with a $5000 fine and can have their vehicles seized. But Williams said that enforcing those laws is difficult when police have so many other crimes to deal with.
But a new pilot program in the Port Richmond neighborhood is attracting the attention of officials like Williams. Business owners in that industrial neighborhood will use a $70,000 city grant to install hidden, night-vision cameras near common dumping sites.
According to Steve Jurash of the Manufacturing Alliance of Philadelphia, incriminating pictures will go straight to the District Attorney.
"There's a lot of cleanup programs going on across the city and that's a wonderful thing," said Jurash. "But we need to begin changing attitudes so we keept it clean. If they're starting to seize vehicles and really enforce this, then Philadelphia is just not going to be a place were dumpers are going to want to go anymore."
Jurash says the cameras will be read in about two weeks.
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