Darren Doyle, story and photos: Two local fire departments are speaking out against the county wide cleanup event that wrapped up today after tons of garbage were dumped on the grounds next to the dumpsters and around fire department property after the containers were filled. Mike Clubb, member of Kyrock Fire Department and a coordinator of the event said misuse of the event will cause fire department members and other community volunteers to have to not only clean up the excess trash, but also provide a destination for it to be placed. "We said absolutely no dumping on the ground and all the dumpsters were clearly marked for the fill line," Clubb said. "Instead, we have people dumping trash everywhere, all over the fire department property, overflowing the dumpsters, it's a shame. Scott Waste won't haul the dumpsters if they're overflowing. They have to be level full, so anything above level has to be removed and placed somewhere else." He said garbage of all sorts, shapes, and sizes were scattered all around the overflowing dumpsters and fire departments throughout the county. Kyrock and Chalybeate seemed to be misused the most. Carl Lindsey with the Chalybeate Fire Department just pointed to the Chalybeate dumpsters while shaking his head. "If this is how this program is going to be used, this fire department is against it," he said. "If the county is going to put this on then they're the ones that need to see to it. We can't have someone at the fire department all the time watching people. It's a shame that this is done to try to help the county and people mistreat it like this." The event was advertised on the Edmonson Voice and got a huge response. In the flyer, it plainly stated, "Absolutely no dumping on the ground, no chemicals, no tires. Dumping on the ground can result in littering fines." Lindsey said those dumping on the ground should have to pay hefty fines.
"I've got a hundred dollar bill for every name turned in that the county could catch with a $500 fine dumping this stuff out on our property," he said. "Firefighters are out here as volunteers and we offer our property for this program. You see what we're dealing with now," he said as he pointed to piles of smelly garbage on the ground. Clubb said that the amount of trash scattered around was enough to fill several more dumpsters. Scott Waste provided two dumpsters at each fire department earlier in the week. Lindsey said he planned on attending the next fiscal court meeting, which is scheduled for Monday, April 24th at 9am to speak to the court in person to voice his concerns. "This has to stop," he said. "I know the majority of people use this how its supposed to be used, but it only takes a few to ruin it for everybody." While at both Kyrock and Chalybeate today taking photos, there was a steady stream of folks arriving to dump their garbage in the overflow, but since there were fire department members at both stations, they were turned away with trucks and trailer loads full of junk. The county and Scott Waste join together each year to bring the free service to Edmonson County. Unless there are major policy changes to the event, Clubb said it's likely to be discontinued. "This is something we do to help our county, but if it can't be done right we'll have to stop it," he said. *Comments without a first and last name and an email address are not published. All comments are subject for review and must adhere to the Edmonson Voice commenting policy which is posted on this site.
Terri Vincent
4/15/2017 04:31:46 pm
Maybe the most used VFD drop sites need at least 3 more dumpsters or maybe next time Scotts could come empty them midweek. I mean, there is obviously a huge need. It is great people are using the service. Also, it appears volunteers are needed with whatever program is in charge of this to manage all sites. Our volunteer fire depatment personnel should not be the ones unless they agree to volunteer. At least people did try to use the services so it was not a waste. Hopefully some better planning will work out the kinks. Good job guys. Sorry this happened.
Richard Carter
4/15/2017 04:58:22 pm
And this is why we can't have nice things. Imagine a church that decides to give away free hot dogs for the first 100 people. No drinks, no chips, just hot dogs. The 101st person gets there and says wheres my hot dog? the church says I'm sorry we just ran out. Not only does the 101st person demand a hot dog, he wants the church to provide a drink, chips, and 5 bucks because the person was inconvenienced. then 100 more people show up demanding the same thing. The next year, the church says, we tried to do something nice by giving away some hot dogs but it aint worth the trouble, people can cook their hot dogs from now on.
Linda Walker
4/15/2017 05:36:06 pm
I am so sad over this. We were so glad the Litter Abatement people were there to help us. They unloaded our vehicle and treated us so nice. We brought everybody at Kyrock FD cokes because we know what it was like to work so hard. We had 4 loads but every time we were there, the dumpster was managed by the volunteers. Everything went smoothly during the week, I thought and we were finished by Wednesday afternoon with ours. There were "dumpster divers" at Chaleybeate but they asked to go thru things in our vehicle before we dumped. I thought it went well and I am so very sorry to hear of the mess. I want to say thank you guys for all the help and the courtesy we received.
Norma Spencer
4/15/2017 05:40:41 pm
I feel proud of our people in Wingfield after seeing what Kyrock & Chalybeate dumpsters looked like. They picked ours up everyday & left empty dumpsters. They did have to use their covers on each pick-up which I thought was awful until seeing the other pictures. Guess this is another program which was very helpful to our county, that will be cut because people chose to abuse it. People thought it was free,no I am sure our tax money paid for this, nothing is free,wonder how many abusers are actually tax payers,ever so, did not give u right to abuse the privilege. Too bad the whole county has to suffer for the many who chose to abuse this privilege. Our volunteer firemen do a great job and do not need more on their backs. We pay high insurance polices as is,but without them, we would all b without insurance,for real. So very sorry this had to happen,but but like we have tried to teach our son & grand kids,sorry after the fact is a lot of time too late,think before u act of the conciquences to yourself & orthers. Enough said.
Jonathan C. York
4/15/2017 10:20:35 pm
I would like to thank all the Edmonson County and Scott waste management personnel that worked to set up and provide this service. This is clearly a good service for our county residents.
Brad Brooks
4/16/2017 08:03:26 am
While I dont agree with the abuse I do know that Scott's has a lot larger dumpsters they could bring out for this event. The ones in the photos look like something you would see at a business and not sized for the need. They either need to bring the biggest size they have or empty them daily to prevent this issue. I tried to use some of the dumpsters a few years ago at Bear Creek and they were so full I couldn't dump anything. I checked back a couple times and they were always full. If Scott's is providing these for free then we take what we can get but if the county is paying them then please consider shortening the cleanup to a couple days event or larger dumpsters or daily emptying of the dumpsters. This is a great event but as with all things a few adjustments could make it even better.
Carey Woodcock
4/16/2017 09:39:27 am
I think it is great to have this event, but do agree that we need more dumpsters or daily emptying of the containers. I have never participated in this event because every year when I drive by Kyrock fire dept the containers are overflowing. I'm not going to load up my stuff to take off and get there with nowhere to dump. Read the comments, one person said they took 4 loads to Kyrock, then turned around and dumped at Chalybeate. So, 1 person quite possibly used a whole dumpster by themselves. I think it could be better managed to empty daily. If you don't have this program, people will continue to litter this junk on back roads and make our county look bad.
Norma Spencer
4/16/2017 09:47:36 pm
Scott's did swap our dumpsters out every morning at Wingfield. I just assumed they did all over county. If there were volunteers at those sights helping with the unloading,how did so much garbage accumulate? Just hope something can b worked out and program can b continued.
Charlie Peck
4/16/2017 09:44:33 am
This is a great service provided by the County and Scotts (whether "free" or not) since the county doesn't have a legal dump that county residents could use. In lieu of a dump, I would argue that it is a necessary service that the county can't do without. Otherwise, these items that are being dropped off at the dumpsters would end up in those people's yards or worse, dumped somewhere else. This needs to be figured out. The unfair burden on the fire departments should be shared among many more persons. I would volunteer to serve a shift (2-8 hour shifts) or two during the week to help monitor my local fire department's dumpster. If not brought up prior to the public speaking portion of the next fiscal court meeting I will bring that up as a possible solution.
Blake Vincent
4/16/2017 04:23:23 pm
I'm sorry that fire fighters and volunteers had to clean up these messes caused by impatient people who couldn't wait to drop their stuff off after Scott Waste Management emptied the dumpsters, but I see a bigger problem than a little localized mess that was left near the dumpster.
JO ETTA JOHNSON
4/16/2017 07:29:58 pm
Basically, ditto what Blake Vincent said. I think everyone in Edmonson County should be truly proud of its citizens for taking part in a project of this sort so heartily. As I see it, there was only one problem: not enough dumpsters furnished - a problem that should be relatively easy to solve for next year. Thanks for letting me comment.
Tammy Alexander
4/17/2017 03:00:48 pm
Regardless if people believe they need more dumpsters or not there are rules to be followed..... in the near future they may bring more but you can't just break the rules and dump it on the ground. Some people have no dignity or respect about anything. I wouldn't be surprised if this service isn't taken away Comments are closed.
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