Don't Trash the 'Nati: City of Cincinnati works to clean up illegal dumping, littering
CINCINNATI (WKRC) - Don't trash the 'Nati. It's been an environmentalist war cry for decades, but it seems that the streets may be trashier than ever.
From bottles and food wrappers, to mattresses, couches and tires, it really doesn't matter what neighborhood you're in, you're going to find litter and illegally dumped items.
"It’s a huge issue. We get a lot of complaints about it,” said Cincinnati City Council Member Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney.
The city says it's doing the best job it can with the resources it has. The Cincinnati Public Services department only has 18 employees that pick up litter on public property across all 52 neighborhoods.
"The only way you can really stop it is if people stop it,” said Cincinnati Public Services Director Jerry L. Wilkerson Jr.
But that’s not likely going to happen. Wilkerson Jr. says the city has cleanup schedules for areas that are consistently trashed.
"Along Reading Road, Forest Avenue, Beekman Street, Westwood Northern -- that’s one of the ones we were at yesterday,” said Wilkerson Jr.
And every Monday, Short Vine near the University of Cincinnati is cleaned after a weekend of activity. But sadly, it only takes a day or two for the garbage to return to many of the high-trafficked areas.
"You’ll see another pop can, beer bottles, McDonald’s bags and it’s kind of like it’s an ongoing cycle, unfortunately," said Wilkerson Jr.
Recent data show more than 3,000 complaint calls for litter or dumped items this year. Just off Kemper Lane and down an embankment, there is a dumping ground that continues to mount despite calls for cleanup.
Why hasn’t the trash been removed? It doesn’t appear to be a high priority, especially with limited resources.
"It all depends if it’s a right of way. Then we'll try to get someone out there right away, but, again, it all depends on our service request we have,” said Wilkerson Jr.
While that pile grows, there is progress. The city is slowly eliminating access to popular dumping sites. Over the summer, four lots in South Cumminsville and North and South Fairmount were cleared out and a fence was put up.
"Perfect example of locations that were chronic dumpsites. We went on and use our vendors to clean it up to the tune of almost $21,000," said Cincinnati Director of Building and Inspections Art Dahlberg.
Dahlberg also touts Keep Cincinnati Beautiful as a driving force in cleanup efforts. Executive Director Jonathan Adee says while locals are responsible for littering, it's the out-of-towners and even out-of-state contractors doing most of the bulk dump jobs to avoid paying to properly dispose of junk.
"For all of the hundred or so of illegal dumping we caught during the last year, we don’t have evidence that one of them was a perpetrator from the same ZIP code where they dump their legal their illegal waste,” said Adee.
And that’s who Lemon Kearney wants to go after.
“I think the city is doing the best it can. We have to do something about the people that dump, people who come in the middle of the night,” said Lemon Kearney. “All these folks wait 'til the middle of the night to dump tires. You don’t have to do that. The city will come and get the tires.”
To learn more about the city’s services or to report litter or illegal dumping, click here.
