Albany and Dougherty County officials to begin work curbing illegal dumping

(ALBANY, GA) – After more than a week of cleanup efforts, the dumpsite at South Maple Street is finally cleared.

For Keep Albany Dougherty beautiful, this was one of the most extensive cleanups.

“You know, it’s easy to go to the landfill, and bring up to 250 pounds a day at no charge. So illegal dumping is something that should not exist,” says KADB Executive Director, Judy Bowles.

That’s why city and county officials are looking to make changes to curb illegal dumping in the new year, with the South Maple Site set to be gated off in the next couple of weeks.

Ward 1 City Commissioner, Jon Howard tells us, “What’s going to happen is we’re going to contact the City Engineer and Public Works, and Water, Gas and Light, they’re going to block this off with some utility poles and chain link fence.”

When asked what the motivation for illegal dumping could be, neither Bowles or Commissioner Howard could give a definitive answer, but that won’t stop them from continuing to try and educate the community.

As well, both certainly have ideas on how those who live near these sites can be more vigilant.

“…It costs all of us taxpayers money. So we’re going to continue to educate, and hopefully next year, through God’s will and no Coronavirus that we will cruise through areas, and have areas like this blocked off,” says Howard.

While Bowles says, “I really wish I had an answer, because when you do something like this, if we’re able to go through the debris and find out who has put it here, there’s a thousand dollar fine…”

Access to the landfill is open to all Albany and Dougherty County residents.