WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) – There is a disturbing new trend in Wheeling.
People are illegally dumping large items at local homeless camps rather than paying the fees involved at landfills.
Officials say if you hire a contractor or handyman to cut down a tree or tear down an old house, he may be tossing the leftover trash at a homeless camp.
The city’s homeless liaison says in two years, they’ve had to haul away hundreds of thousands of tons of construction and plumbing debris, broken furniture, large appliances and more–that homeless people had nothing to do with.
“When people tear out their carpet in their home, it’s being brought up here and dumped illegally. Refrigerators, washers, dryers, couches. We’ve found estate sales that people have had, and after they’ve cleaned up after the estate sales, they’ve dumped everything. You can not do that on city property or private property. It needs to be taken to the local dump.”
Melissa Adams
Wheeling homeless liaison
She said if you hire someone to do some work make sure they provide you with proof of where they’re taking the debris.
If it’s an estate sale, make sure they’re taking whatever is left to a thrift store. If it’s construction debris, make sure they’re hauling it to the dump.
She says the homeless individuals now bag up their trash and take it to the end of the road, where it’s picked up by the city and disposed of properly.
